A Real World
by Pokeshipper 4 Lyf
Summary: This a story of a boy who was lonely in the real world. And to fulfill his wish, a mysterious silhouette appeared and soon he was in the Pokemon World. Now they'll face many battles and possibly mysterious happenings.
1. The Beginning

**Author's Note: **Um hello guys. This would be my very first fanfic so don't expect a high-class quality story. Well this is a story about a young man who lived in the real world but was transported to the Pokemon World.

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**Chapter 1: The Beginning**

It is a very calm day today. Birds were chirping, little kids were playing, adults are talking with fellow adults, and many much more. All felt very happy, well majority of them felt happy. But there was a young man, named Melford Anderson, who was just alone in his room playing his various Nintendo consoles. From the very first original Game Boy up to the Nintendo Wii. With all these video games, you could tell he is very rich.

Melford is a normal 15 year old boy. He goes to school on weekdays. Plays video games on weekends. He is wearing blue pants with matching black vests and a navy blue hoody. He is also quite muscular. His black spiky hair looks cool on him, and with matching onyx eyes, you could tell he was indeed very handsome. Stands at about 5'9. The only thing that was weird on him is his strange birth mark on his right bicep. The mark looked like a circle with four lines and with corresponding arcs. But he frequently wears T-shirts so it is always hidden from other people.

Many people would think this guy would be very happy with his life, yet it was the exact opposite. Yes he was rich. Almost all of his classmates befriends him, but only for his money. Many boys befriend him but ask money, when Melford complies, they will just leave the boy alone. And when girls go near him, they would just flirt and say some weird things to him. In short, he isn't very happy with his life.

After he finished playing all of his Pokemon games, he fixed the mess and started wondering. 'Hm, what does it feel to be a real trainer? With lots of powerful pokemon by your side. Man, it must really be happy living in the Pokemon world. No one is gonna bully you, all people are your friends, you also have your loyal and trusty Pokemon. Man, I really envy Pokemon trainers. If only the Pokemon World is real.'

As he continued wondering about things in the Pokemon world, a voice spoke into the mind of Melford, 'Do you really want to be in the Pokemon world?' Said the voice telepathically. Melford looked left and right and wondered what it was. 'Maybe I played too much video games for long.' Wondered Melford.

'I repeat, do you really want to live in a world where no one bullies you? Where you can have loyal friends? Where you can live your life as who you are?' Asked the magical voice.

"Man this is already creepy. But if you insist on that question, yes I do. I want to live as myself. I want to live peacefully. I want to be truly who I am." Answered Melford. But this time he said those words. Not thought about it, but the words really came out from his mouth.

'As you wish.' Replied the voice telekinetically.

When the voice stopped, Melford thought that he was just talking to himself. "Man those video games really put me in a strange state of mind. I think I must sleep, maybe I just lacked sleep for me to talk to myself.

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**After around 30 minutes**

"Umphhhh, man that sleep was cozy." Said Melford to himself. He then opened his eyes. But what he saw has shocked him, he saw pure pitch blackness around him. As in very black. At first he thought it was just momentarily, but after 10 seconds he panicked. He thought he had gone blind.

"HEY CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME?" He shouted. Yet there came no reply. "Is somebody there?" He asked again. The results were the same, no reply. "HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He shouted louder.

He was now already very afraid. But something in front of him formed. A silhouette formed in front of him, and even if the silhouette was right in front of Melford, he couldn't tell what or who it was. But it was definitely not a human. But the silhouette opened it eyes, its white, majestical eyes. It talked to Melford telepathically and said, 'Melford, you were chosen to be here. You are the one who could fight against the elements of evil. You are the Chosen One.'

Melford was slightly scared at the silhouette. And of course he should be, he doesn't even know what it is. "Who are you and why am I here?" Asked Melford obviously very afraid and confused.

'I just said it a while ago Melford, you are here because you are the chosen one. If you don't believe me, look at your birth mark.' Said the voice. Melford looked at his right bicep, his birth mark is glowing. It was glowing pure white. But it doesn't hurt. Melford slowly begins to understand, this isn't a dream. This is true. This is reality.

When the silhouette saw Melford slowly calming down, it chanted something. Something intelligible by humans. And as if on cue, a strong wind gushed and the silhouette vanished. Slowly, a light was gradually shining. It grew bigger and bigger. The light then flashed brightly than ever and an image appeared.

The image showed a beautiful scenery. Grasses swaying with the wind. Little Pokemon roaming around the meadow. And various people training with Pokemon. Then with another flash, the image vanished. Then an image of a water gun attack came towards him. As the water gun attack hits him, he suddenly regains consciousness and has woken up.

"Ahhhhh, it's cold cold cold cold!" Shouted Melford. "Hey calm down." Said a boy about his age.

"Who are you?" Asked Melford. "Allow me, I'm known as Martin, Martin Silver. I'm a Pokemon trainer. And I'm sorry for what my Squirtle has done. I'm kinda new to Pokemon training so we aren't veterans. I'm truly sorry for what my Squirtle has done. I was teaching Squirtle to use its water gun effectively but since we're both new to these kinds of stuff, Squirtle's water gun had lost control and hit you. I'm sorry. " Said Martin. Martin has a, like his last name says, silver hair. He has black eyes and is wearing a blue T-shirt with a logo of a Squirtle and a slightly longer blue shorts around his lower knees. He was also wearing his white rubber shoes.

"I'm sorry sir." Martin said once again. His Squirtle also bowed and said sorry, in Squirtle language of course.

"Well it's nothing to worry about. And Squirtle, don't worry about that water gun. No one could do it in its first try, just continue practicing on it." Melford said and he patted Squirtle's head. After 2 minutes of analyzing what he said…."AHHHHHHHH!!!!"

Martin jumped in fear and shock of what happened. Melford thought to himself, 'What in the world was that. I just touched a Squirtle's head. A real Squirtle. I also met a Pokemon trainer. What in the world is happening. Is this a dream?' He then pinched himself hard. So hard that you could see a very red mark on his cheek. 'No, this isn't a dream. But what in the world am I doing here?'

'Calm down Melford.' The voice said. 'I just granted your wish. You are in the Pokemon world. A world where you could freely do what you want. A world in which you could express your true feelings. A world in which you will have real friends.'

'Then this isn't a dream?' Asked Melford in his thoughts. The voice replied, 'Nope, this is real. This is the Pokemon World.'

Melford then reminisced the things that happened earlier. When he was on the dark place, in which the silhouette appeared, in which where his birth mark glowed. 'This is real.' Thought Melford.

Melford's expression suddenly changed, he became very happy. 'At last, I could live freely. No one to bully me and tease me. This is truly the place which I could call...Home.' Melford then smiled happily.

Martin stared at Melford for a moment, 'Okay, first he was happy, then he screamed and his face was completely confused, then he is happy again. I can't understand this guy.' "Um, are you okay? You look like your still in a daze." Asked Martin.

"Don't worry. I was just thinking about something. It's okay now, and don't worry, I'm perfectly healthy. Except for the fact that I'm wet." Said Melford.

"Oh yeah about that, I'm sorry. Let me make it up to you, how about you come to my house and I'll give you something to wear. My place is just near and just a couple of minutes walk away." Recommended Martin.

"Um sure." Replied Melford. "Oh wait, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Melford Anderson. I came from really far away and was just resting here."

"I see." Said Martin. "Ok then, lets go." Both ran towards Martin's house.

'I can't believe it. I am really in the Pokemon World. I can't wait for the adventures to come.' Thought Melford.

"Pokemon World, be ready, for Melford Anderson will be here to be the best Pokemon Master there is." Shouted Melford to no one in particular.

'Then it's official, he is a certified weirdo.' Thought Martin with a huge sweatdrop.

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To be continued……………

So was it good or not? Err well next week I'll try to update. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next chapter.


	2. Melford got a starter Pokemon

Author's Note: Ok for all the confused readers, Martin is a 13 year old boy. I just wanna get that clear so no one would be confused.

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**Chapter 2: Melford got a starter Pokemon**

"There it is Melford. That one with the green roof is my house." Said Martin as he pointed down towards his house.

"Ok then, last one there is a slowpoke." Shouted Melford as he dashed towards Martin's house"

Hey you're unfair." Retorted Martin as he too dashed towards his house."

As both of boys reached Martin's house at the same time, they were panting heavily. "I thought you said a while ago that your house was just a couple of minutes walk." Said Melford. "If your house was just near, how come we are both panting heavily." He continued.

"Well it wasn't my fault, you were the first one to run." Replied Martin. Melford became quiet and he remembered that he was indeed the first one to dash towards Martin's house. "Oh yeah. I guess I forgot." Said Melford while scratching the head of his head, embarrased. Martin just had a huge sweatdrop on his head.

Just as Martin was about to touch the door knob. The door has been opened and a woman about it mid-30's peeked to see Martin and Melford. "Hey mom," Said Martin. "Mom, I was wondering if I could just stay for an hour because I got this visitor. He was an out-of-towner so I decided to be helpful and volunteered that I will bring him in here."

'Helpful eh?! Maybe more like being committed to something you don't even wanna get into.' Thought Melford.

"Oh sure son. By the way, who is this lad and why is his clothes wet?" Asked Martin's mom. Martin decided to spill the beans out, "You see mom, I was practicing with my Squirtle and he got hit by Squirtle's water gun so I took responsibility of him. By the way, his name is Melford, Melford Anderson."

"Oh, Melford I'm sorry for my son's carelesness. I'm Martin's mother, Rebecca. Martin is just a beginner so pardon him." Said Rebecca. "Oh it's nothing Mrs. Silver, beginning trainers really need practice and it isn't their fault." Said Melford humbly. "Thanks for understanding Melford." Stated Rebecca. "It's ok mam."

"Ok ok, let's cut the conversation for a minute. Hey Melford, come with me and let's see what clothing would be good." Said Martin as he dragged Melford to his room. Actually, he was just cutting the conversation because he feared that his mom would say something embarrasing to Melford. As Martin opened the closet on his room, "Ok Melford. Pick which one you like and I'll just take a bath. And don't worry, those aren't used yet. They were gifts given to me but were just too big for me so I didn't wear it. And pick up which you like, it's free."

"Well okay." Said Melford and soon Martin went to the bathroom to take a bath. "Hmmm, what would look good on me. Let's see."

Melford then started to dig up clothes would be perfect for his style. First he saw a navy blue vest and decided to pick it. Then he saw another black T-shirt with a Pokeball logo on it and decided to get it too. He also saw a slightly loose black pants and decided to try it on and it was perfect on him, not too tight and not too loose. He also decided to grab some white socks because his were very wet. He also retained his white rubber shoes to match his outfit.

And last of all, he grabbed a necklace from the drawer. It is nothing special though, just a plain old necklace which has a flaming red stone on it. (When I said flaming red stone, I didn't mean it was actually flaming. I just described its color.)

As he finished setting his new clothes up. Martin also finished his bath and has already worn his trainer outfit. Consisting of a blue shirt with a Squirtle head as a logo and a dark blue pants. He is also wearing white rubber shoes with a silver lining spelling 'Martin' on each shoe side.

After Melford finished taking a bath, he already wore the clothing he got courtesy of Martin. Then both boys went down to the kitchen to eat. Their meal consists of pancakes with syrups and peanut butter sandwiches with orange juice. As Melford took a bite of his portion of pancakes, he saw a clock and the time is 7:30. "It's just 7:30 in the morning?" Asked Melford.

"Yeah, Squirtle and I just went out for a morning walk and training. In fact, this is just my second day as a trainer because I just got this Squirtle yesterday." Stated Martin. "I see." Replied Melford.

Soon enough both boys were done eating. "Mom, I'm gonna go to Professor Oak for a while. I'm also going to bring Melford so he could meet the Professor." Said Martin. "Ok honey. Just be sure to be careful along the way." Replied Rebecca.

As both exited Martin's house, "Hey Melford, you see that building there with a windmill? That is Professor Oak's lab. That is where we are going. And after that, let's start our journey." Said Martin. "Sure." Replied Melford.

"By the way, what Pokemon do you have. As you know, I only have Squirtle as one. How about you?" Asked Martin. "Actually Martin, I don't have a Pokemon." Said Melford.

"WHAT!!!!!!!! You even shouted a while ago that you will become a Pokemon Master yet you don't even have a Pokemon?" Stated Martin with shock. Melford just nodded his head in reply. "Man, it's a good thing I'm bringing you to the Professor, he might have a spare Pokemon for you." Said Martin.

With that said, Melford imagined the kinds of starters to choose from. And from gaming experiences, he knows that Kanto starters are Charmander, Squirtle, and a Bulbasaur. 'I can't wait to see real live Pokemon starters.' Thought Melford.

With that thought in mind, Melford continued walking with Martin towards Professor Oak's laboratory.

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**After 10 minutes of walking**

"We're here Melford." Said Martin, then he knocked on the door. Someone opened the door and that was Professor Oak. "Hello there Martin. What brings you here? I hope nothing is wrong with the Squirtle I gave you." Said the Professor.

"Don't worry Professor Oak. My Squirtle is perfectly fine. I just brought my friend here to have a starter Pokemon. He is new to being a trainer so he doesn't have single Pokemon. I was wondering if you have a spare Pokemon for my friend. And by the way, his name is Melford, Melford Anderson."

"Ah, I see. I think I have one left. Come on in. I'll show you what's left." Said the Professor as he let the two boys inside. "Here, please take a seat." Said the Professor as he offered chairs to both trainers. "Um Tracey, please come here. I need the last Pokemon starter left." Said Professor Oak. "Right away Professor." Said his assistant.

Tracey, Proffesor Oak's assistant, came with a tray containing a single Pokeball. Professor Oak got the Pokeball and dismissed his assistant. "As you see Melford, this is the last Pokemon starter I got. And you know, Martin got Squirtle. And another female trainer got Bulbasaur yesterday. So the only one left is," Said the Professor as he opened the Pokeball and out came…

"Charmander" Said the little flaming red lizard. Charmander has a black eyes and its tail was flaming bright orange red. With its physique, you could tell that it was raised properly by the Professor. "Ehem, I'm truly sorry Melford but this is the only starter that's left." Explained the Professor.

"It's perfectly fine sir. I would like to accept Charmander as my starter if you may." Offered Melford. "But of course." Said the professor. "Seeing young trainers being happy also makes me happy. I just need to ask a favor Melford, please take very good care of that Charmander. It's still new to this world and is not adjusted to the outside world." Continued Professor Oak.

"Don't worry Professor, I promise I would take good care of Charmander. I'm going to raise it very well. And then someday, we'll both come back and we will show our progress to you." Explained Melford. "Very well said." Said the Professor.

Professor Oak then turned back to Charmander and said, "Charmander, meet your new trainer. His name is Melford. Make sure that you two get along well". Charmander took a peek at Melford and jumped to his lap. "Hmm. I think Charmander has taken I liking towards you Melford." Said the Professor.

Melford just smiled and lifted Charmander with his two hands. "Don't worry Charmander, I going to take good care of you. And I promise that the both of us will be the strongest here in this world. We will conquer the Kanto tournament and we will defeat the Elite Four." Charmander then smiled and both Melford and Charmander laughed heartily.

"Hey, don't I deserve a measly 'Thank You'? I was the one who brought you here you know." Said Martin to Melford. "Hey Martin, thanks for bringing me here." Replied Melford as he patted Martin's back, a little too hard pat I may add.

"Yeah yeah whatever. And hey, if you're aiming for the Kanto tournament, then I guess we're rivals." Said Martin. Melford looked in shock at Martin and stated, "You mean you're also aiming for the Pokemon League?"

"Yup." Said Martin. "Then that means that we're friendly rivals." Said Melford. "But hey, when someday the both of us battle, don't hold back." Melford continued. Martin smirked and stated, "I don't plan to."

Melford and Martin shook hands and decided that both would be rivals yet friends at the same time. "Ok boys. Please come here for a second." Said the Professor as he stood near a machine. The Professor got two little devices from the machine and gave one each to Melford and Martin.

"Martin I'm sorry I forgot to give this to you yesterday. This device is called a Pokedex. It will show you the characteristics of Pokemon you see and catch. This is a new version so it has the call system. Just register a Pokedex's ID in yours and you could call others. Oh by the way, I also forgot to give a Pokedex to the other trainer yesterday. Please do me a favor and give this Pokedex to her if you meet her." Said the Professor.

"Her? You mean the other starting trainer who got a Bulbasaur is a girl?" Asked Martin with a hint of shock plastering his face. "Precisely my boy." Said the Professor. "And you can't possibly miss her. She will stand out because of her golden brown hair. She also wears a pink T-shirt covered with a light green vest. She also is wearing a light blue jeans."

"I see. Don't worry Professor Oak. Once we see her, we'll immediately give her the Pokedex." Said Melford.

"Thank you my boy." Said the Professor. "By the way, here are some Pokebelts for you. These you can carry a maximum of 6 caught Pokemon. 6 Pokemon is the limit of Pokemon that a trainer could carry at a time. But if you wish to catch Pokemon and you already have 6 with you, don't worry because your 7th Pokemon will immediately be transferred to me. And I can keep it for safekeeping. Oh and also please give a Pokebelt to that other trainer. I forgot her name so I can't give precise information."

"We'll just keep a look out for her. As you said with those descriptions, she really will be hard to miss." Said Martin.

"Oh before I forget, here are spare Pokeballs. 5 for the each of you and 5 for the other trainer." said the Professor handling them their Pokeballs.

"Thanks Professor. We really do appreciate it. And don't worry, once we see that girl, we would immediately give her the Pokedex and Pokebelt." Said Melford with enthusiasm.

"Ok then boys. I think it's the start of your journey. You must leave now and pursue your dreams. Oh before I forget, Martin, you must first say goodbye to your mother before you leave town." Reminded the Professor.

Sure thing Professor." Said Martin."

"Very well sir. We might as well leave, we should also pack our things and say goodbye to Mrs. Silver." Said Melford.

"Oh ok. Very well then. Good luck on your journey." Said the Professor.

With that said, both Melford and Martin left the lab and decided to go back to Martin's house.

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To be continued…

Sorry if this chapter was a bit late. Stay tuned for chapter 3


	3. Meet the last trainer from Pallet

Author's Note: Thanks to all the people who viewed my story

Author's Note: Thanks to all the people who viewed my story. I also wanna say thanks especially to Mexman 1993 for reviewing.

**Chapter 3: Meet the last trainer from Pallet **

At last, the moment has come. The moment in which our heroes will leave Pallet Town and begin on their journey to be a Pokemon Master.

"Excited already?" Asked Martin who was now more than ready to start their journey.

"Of course!!" replied Melford. 

'To tell the truth, I'm really psyched to start out. It will, after all, be my very first REAL Pokemon Journey. And considering what happened earlier, I'm glad to be finally able to start our journey.' Thought Melford.

**FLASHBACK **

"Hey Melford, let's first head over to my house to get ready and then we could start our journey." said Martin to Melford.

"Fine with me. And by that way we could say goodbye to your Mom and we could stock up on some supplies." replied Melford.

As both of them entered the house, they immediately started to pack their things. And since Melford doesn't have a traveling bag, Martin was forced to give him another one.

"You know what? You're weird. I mean how in the world did you end up here in Pallet if you don't even have a bag? How come you reached this place safely without Pokemon to help you?" asked Martin in annoyance.

Melford then went into a state of thinking. He thought hard whether he should tell Martin that he came from a different world or not. But in the end, Melford decided to just keep it a secret. "Well you could just say that I'm full of surprises. And don't speak to me as if you control me, in case you don't know I'm two years older than you." replied Melford.

"Ha, as if I care. And also, in case you forgot, I was the one who brought you in here and in the lab." Martin retorted.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Anyways, are you already finished packing? I'm already done in here." Melford said as he carried his traveling bag over his shoulders. He was also already well prepared. He had his Pokedex in the pocket of his vest. He was also wearing his Pokebelt too and placed his spare Pokeballs in it.

"Yup, I'm already finished." said Martin as he too, equipped his Pokebelt and placed his Pokedex on the pocket of his pants.

As Melford and Martin was already going out of the house..."Hey wait. We forgot to tell my mom that we're leaving." said Martin. "Hey mom, me and Melford will already start our journey. Take care of yourself in here ma. I love you."

Rebecca then came out of the kitchen and replied, "Ok dear. Just be sure to take care. And Melford, please take care of Martin for me. He's just a kid so please look out for him." said Rebecca.

"MOM!! I'm no kid anymore." shouted Martin.

"Don't worry Mrs. Silver, I'll be sure to take care of this little kid." Melford said while he was grinning at Martin. Martin just looked down embarrassed.

"Oh before I forget, here are some cookies for the both of you in case you want some snack. And share it equally boys." said Rebecca as she handed down a medium-sized box full of cookies to Martin.

"Thanks Mom. Well see you then. I'll call occasionally to you so don't worry too much." said Martin.

"Ok dear. Goodbye and good luck. Take care honey, I love you." said Rebecca as she waved good-bye to both Melford and Martin.

**END OF FLASHBACK **

"Hey Melford, according to this map we're already near Viridian Forest. And hey, quit spacing out and be alert. You don't know when a wild Pokemon may attack, you know." Martin said with a hint of fear. After all, it's also his first time to be out in the wild.

"Yeah yeah. And hey, don't keep on ordering me around. You aren't my boss plus I'm two and a half years older than you." reminded Melford with annoyance.

Martin just grumbled. "Hey look, it's a sign." Martin said. "Hmmm, it says 'Welcome to Viridian Forest'. Ha, that must mean we're already in the forest." Martin said as he spotted the sign.

"Cool. Now let's go in and capture many sorts of Pokemon." said Melford with enthusiasm.

**After 15 minutes... **

"Groan. How come there are no Pokemon or even trainers that are around?" asked Melford.

"It's obvious. In case you're not paying attention, it's already lunchtime. So how about taking a break and let's eat first?" said Martin as he too, was already hungry from all the walking, running, and searching they have done.

"Oh ok." replied Melford.

Martin opened his bag only to see that all they both have are cookies. And to make things worse, they're also out of water. "Oh oh. Hey Melford, we've got some bad news."

"What do you mean bad news? Could you just talk about it after we have lunch? I'm hungry too you know. First let's eat then we talk." said Melford quite annoyingly as he was being impatient.

"I'm afraid that's the bad news. We only have cookies for lunch and we've ran out of water supply. That means we have to reach for Viridian city faster if we want to have a decent meal." replied Martin.

"So you're telling me that cookies are what we're going to eat and we have no water?" asked Melford as he stared blankly at Martin.

"Yup. It seems that way." replied Martin as he sweatdropped.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"What the hell?! We have no food? How come you're stupid enough not to bring our lunch?" shouted Melford angrily.

"What do you mean I'm stupid? You're older so you should have the responsibility. And even if we do have ingredients and utensils, I also don't know how to cook!"

"What?! Does that mean that we have to reach Viridian City so we could have a proper lunch?" asked Melford as he lowered his voice a little.

"Huh?! Does that mean that you also don't know how to cook?" asked Martin.

"I'm afraid not." replied Melford.

With that said, Martin fell anime style. 'Man, he scolds me for not knowing too cook yet he also doesn't know a slightest thing about cooking. Then how in the world did he reach Pallet with no Pokemon and no knowledge of cooking?' wondered Martin. 'Hmm. I get it. Maybe he has lots of money so he always eats at restaurants. That's gotta be it.'

"Hey Melford, even if we do reach Viridian City, do you plan to treat me into a restaurant?" asked Martin.

"Of course not. I don't even have enough money to treat myself." replied Melford. "I was hoping you would treat me."

"What?! I also don't have money." replied Martin.

"Do you mean to tell me that we don't even have enough money to buy even a measly antidote?" asked Melford as he was hoping that this isn't the case.

"Gulp. Er, you really don't want me to answer that do you?" replied Martin as he was already being very cautious at what he says.

Melford just stared at Martin again and then he shouted, "We're doomed! This is my very first Pokemon journey and it turned out to be a disaster. I bet we are the only trainers here. We're just stuck here in this stupid forest and no one will help us."

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. HELP ME!!" someone shouted.

"Hey Martin, was that you?!" asked Melford confused.

"Does my voice sound like a girl's? And besides, why would I shout if we're just centimeters apart. Only a stupid fellow would shout in the middle of a forest." replied Martin.

"What do you mean stupid? I just shouted a while ago. Are you implying I'm stupid?" asked Melford angrily. Well it sounds more of a command rather than a question.

"I'm not implying anything. I'm stating a fact, you're pretty stupid to shout at the middle of a forest. Who knows, you could even attract a group of Beedrills if you keep on shouting." replied Martin as he smirked.

"Why you..." threatened Melford.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Please help me. Please anyone." shouted the voice once again.

"Hey you heard that?" asked Melford while looking around.

"Yup. Then it means we're not the only people here. But from that kind of shout, I think that person is in danger." replied Martin.

"Then what are we waiting for?! Let's go to where that dude is." said Melford.

With that said, both Melford and Martin dashed to the place where the voice is coming from. It seems to be quite far because both boys don't really know that exact place of the dude. Once again, the voice shouted and Martin was able to pinpoint the location. As the boys reached the place, they saw someone wearing a cap with a Bulbasaur and Pikachu battling a group of Beedrills.

"Hey dude, what in the world is going on here?" asked Melford as he and Martin went to the side of the mysterious person.

"I was just minding my own business with my Bulbasaur and Pikachu when suddenly I bumped into a tree and these Pokemon attacked me. I tried fighting them off but they are just too many." replied the capped person.

"Well for starters, you should recall your Bulbasaur. As you know, Bulbasaur is a grass type and Beedrill is a poison type. This means that Beedrill has an advantage over Bulbasaur. And you should also order an electric attack from Pikachu because Pikachu is an electric type and has the advantage over Beedrills who are flying types. And don't worry, me and Melford here will try to help you." said Martin. "Squirtle, time to battle."

"Charmander, let's have our first battle." said Melford as he released his Charmander out of its Pokeball.

"Squirtle, Water Gun those Beedrills on the left." ordered Martin. Squirtle then released a water gun which hit four Beedrills. With that, two Beedrills came to rescue their companions and were dashing towards Squirtle. "Squirtle, those Beedrills are planning to use Twinneedle. You do you Withdraw so you can shield against those." Squirtle obliged which caused the Beedrills to crack their pinsirs (I really don't know what they are). "Now Squirtle come on out and Water Gun again." ordered Martin once again. Squirtle came out of its shell and used Water Gun on those pesky Beedrills which caused the Beedrills on the left to retreat.

As for Melford, "Charmander, use Ember on the Beedrills on the right." Charmander nodded its head and decided to release small flaming pellet-like fireballs which hit five Beedrills because of its range. And since fire types have an advantage against bug types, the Beedrills have been charred and decided to flee.

And on the mysterious person, "Bulbasaur return." the person said as a red beam from a Pokeball hits Bulbasaur. "Now Pikachu, use thundershock on the Beedrills on the middle." Pikachu then jumped and released little voltages of electricity towards the Beedrills. And since lightning can cover a fairly wide area, Pikachu's Thundershock hit at least seven Beedrills. This caused the Beedrills to flee.

With that, no more Beedrills were left and this caused Charmander, Squirtle, and Pikachu to be left panting after that battle. And of course they should be tired, after all, three Pokemon against an almost twenty amount of Beedrills are unfair.

"Thank you all for helping me." said the mysterious figure as she removed her cap and bowed. But when she removed her cap, golden brown hair came out and flowed gracefully around the person. Then she just held her cap on her hands. It wasn't a very fancy cap, actually it's just a plain white baseball cap with a Pokeball logo.

"Y..y..yo...you're a girl?!" asked Melford and Martin in shock.

"Um yes." replied the girl as she smiled sweetly.

"Ah, that explains why the first shout sounded like a girl's voice." stated Martin.

"Wait a minute Martin. She has a golden brown hair, sound familiar?" Melford questioned.

"Hmmmm" both boys put their hands on their chins and then went into a state of thinking which left the girl to be confused.

**FLASHBACK**

"Martin I'm sorry I forgot to give this to you yesterday. This device is called a Pokedex. It will show you the characteristics of Pokemon you see and catch. This is a new version so it has the call system. Just register a Pokedex's ID in yours and you could call others. Oh by the way, I also forgot to give a Pokedex to the other trainer yesterday. Please do me a favor and give this Pokedex to her if you meet her." said the Professor.

"Her? You mean the other starting trainer who got a Bulbasaur is a girl?" asked Martin with a hint of shock plastering his face. "Precisely my boy." said the Professor. "And you can't possibly miss her. She will stand out because of her golden brown hair. She also wears a pink T-shirt covered with a light green vest. She also is wearing light blue jeans."

"I see. Don't worry Professor Oak. Once we see her, we'll immediately give her the Pokedex." said Melford.

"Thank you my boy." said the Professor. "By the way, here are some Pokebelts for you. These you can carry a maximum of 6 caught Pokemon. 6 Pokemon is the limit of Pokemon that a trainer could carry at a time. But if you wish to catch Pokemon and you already have 6 with you, don't worry because your 7th Pokemon will immediately be transferred to me. And I can keep it for safekeeping. Oh and also please give a Pokebelt to that other trainer. I forgot her name so I can't give precise information."

"We'll just keep a look out for her. As you said with those descriptions, she really will be hard to miss." said Martin. 

"Oh before I forget, here are spare Pokeballs. 5 for the each of you and 5 for the other trainer." said the Professor handling them their Pokeballs.

"Thanks Professor. We really do appreciate it. And don't worry, once we see that girl, we would immediately give her the Pokedex and Pokebelt." said Melford with enthusiasm.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

"Ah!" both boys shouted and pointed at each other. "She's the girl." both stated at exactly the same time.

"Miss, may I ask? Do you, by any chance, came form Pallet Town?" asked Martin.

"Why yes. In fact I received my Bulbasaur their just yesterday. And this is the first day of my journey so I was quite scared a while ago." stated the girl.

"Then it's confirmed Martin. She's the one." said Melford.

"It seems so." replied Martin.

Melford then walked up to the girl and handed her a Pokedex, five Pokeballs, and a Pokebelt. "Here, these items are for you. Actually the Professor should be the one to give you these but he forgot so we just took it and promised to give these to you if we saw you. So here, take it."

"Thanks." replied the girl as she took the items.

"Hey, how come you caught a Pikachu when you have no Pokeballs?" asked Martin out of nowhere.

"Oh, I saw a Pokeball lying on the ground a while ago and decided to take it. And when I saw Pikachu I thought it was cute so I battled it and luckily caught it. I'm very happy now that I caught my very first Pokemon." replied the girl as she was smiling happily.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Leah, Leah Hartley. I'm 15 years old. As you know, my starter is Bulbasaur." said the girl now identified as Leah.

"I'm Melford, Melford Anderson. Also 15 years old." said Melford. "And this one here is my pal Charmander. My first and only Pokemon as of now." He continued as he patted Charmander on its head. "Char" Said Charmander.

"And I'm Martin, Martin Silver. A 13 year old. My Pokemon is this Squirtle." said Martin as he picked up Squirtle. "Well for now, this is my only Pokemon."

"Hello Melford and Charmander. Hello Martin and Squirtle." said Leah.

"Well. Now that we have given you those items. I guess me and Melford will already go on to Viridian City. And well, good luck on your journey." said Martin.

"Oh wait. Um I have a request. Er...Um, could I join you on your journey? Well you see, this is my first journey and I'm kinda scared traveling by myself." asked Leah.

"Well Martin, what do you think?" asked Melford.

"We can't leave a girl behind now can we? Besides, the more the merrier." replied Martin.

"Ok then. Welcome to the party Leah." said Melford.

"Thanks you guys. I really appreciate it." raid Leah.

"Well there's one condition." stated Martin. "From now on, you should be the one to take care of Melford. He's very annoying so I entrust him to you. And don't be fooled by his age, even if he's 15 he's very childish most of the time."

At this, Leah giggled while Melford, unable to hold his temper and embarrassment, strangled Martin. "You take that back." stated Melford. "I'm definitely not childish."

"Well instead of strangling me," stated Martin as he is running out of breath, "we should be faster so we could get to Viridian City." 

With that, Melford released Martin. "Oh yeah. Hey Leah, be sure to follow us okay? We're gonna go to Viridian City fast." Melford reminded Leah.

"What's the rush?" asked Leah.

"Well you see, we don't have anything to eat for lunch." Martin interfered, "And this dude here doesn't even know how to cook so we're forced to reach Viridian City so we could eat. See how useless Melford is?! He doesn't even know how to cook. Which leaves me wondering, how can we survive our journey?" stated Martin.

"Stop saying unnecessary things." Melford said angrily as he blushed slightly out of embarrassment.

"Oh. That's why. Hmm, I could cook for you guys." said Leah.

With that said, time seemed to stop for Melford and Martin, both were staring at Leah. At this, Leah sweatdropped big time.

"You mean..." Melford stated

"You could cook?" Martin continued.

"Um yes. And don't worry, I have enough ingredients to last us for two days and I even have the proper utensils. And with your help, we could use Charmander to heat the food and we could use Squirtle to wash our utensils." stated Leah.

"YESSSSSSS!! Charmander you heard the girl. You ought to help her." shouted Melford.

"Hey Squirtle, you should also help." stated Martin

"Ok then. Um it'll take about thirty minutes for me to finish my stew. Can you wait that long?" asked Leah.

"Of course we can." stated Melford and Martin at the same time.

With that said, Leah prepared to start cooking.

**After 30 minutes…**

"Here's the stew. Well it's not a first class food but it sure beats eating nothing. Hope you like it." stated Leah.

Melford and Martin then decided to take a sip, "Wow. This is the best stew I tasted in my entire life." Melford said. And infact, it's true. It's quite tasty and has a perfect blending of ingredients. (Man I'm becoming hungry just typing this)

"I agree. This is even better than my mom's stew." Martin replied.

"Thanks for the compliments. And don't worry if you finish it. I had just eaten a while ago before I was attacked by Beedrills." stated Leah with a smile. "And for you Charmander and Squirtle, here's some Pokemon food."

"Char" "Squirt" Replied the two Pokemon. Both then took a bite and they too, find the Pokechow tasty.

"Ok guys, while you're eating I'll prepare some rice balls for snack. Take your time." said Leah.

As time passed by, both Melford and Martin and their Pokemon were finished eating. "Leah, thanks for the meal. I promise we'll pay you if we had the money." said Melford.

"Oh don't worry about it. It's my way of saying thanks. And since we're a team now, it's time that we help each other." replied Leah.

"Thanks Leah." Replied Melford gratefully. "And since we're a team, you just continue fixing those riceballs and me and Martin will clean the utensils we used."

"Oh no. I'll take care of it later." stated Leah. She wanted to do the work by herself because she doesn't want to be a nuisance to the two boys.

"Hey don't worry. It's our turn to say thanks. After all, like you said, we're a team now." said Melford.

"Oh ok. Don't worry I'll help as soon as I finish these riceballs." stated Leah.

"Ok." replied Melford.

With that, Martin ordered he's Squirtle to use Water Gun to clean the utensils. Melford then dried he utensils with Charmander's tail as he was wiping it. Leah is still fixing the riceballs with help from Pikachu and Bulbasaur.

As they finished, "Well now that we're finished, let's start to find our way out of this forest so we could reach Viridian City faster." stated Melford.

With those words said, Melford started running with Leah and Martin chasing. "Hey don't be so fast. You left us behind." shouted Martin. Oh well, seems that all were eager to reach Viridian City by nighttime.

To be continued…….

Sorry for the late update. I just did something here so I hadn't written for a long time. Anyways, enjoy this chapter.


	4. New Pokemon are captured

Author's Note: Hello again. This would be my 4th Chapter guys. Please enjoy.

Chapter 4: New Pokemon are captured

* * *

"Hey, we've been walking for the past three hours and yet we still are stuck in this forest. Just how long until we get out of here?" complained Martin.

"Hey stop complaining. It's you who's holding the map you know. You should be the one leading us out of here." retorted Melford. "And don't tell me you don't know how to read a map."

"Of course I know how to read a map. It says here that if we follow this section here, we would see the exit in no time at all. What I don't get is, we've been following this map but there's no sign of the exit." Martin answered back and showed the map to Melford and Leah. "See, it has the official logo of the Association of Pokemon Maps so this map is the real deal."

Leah grabbed the map and she looked at it. Indeed there was the logo, meaning this map isn't fake. As she continued looking at the map, she noticed something which caused her to sweatdrop and sigh heavily.

What's the matter Leah?" asked Melford as he wondered why Leah sighed."

"You're right guys. This map has the official logo of the Association of Pokemon Maps," Leah said.

"Told you so. See how responsible I am. I'm the one who brought that map. See how you could count on me on these kinds of situations?" said Martin as he acted a sort of conceited.

"But," Leah continued, "look under the logo." Leah said as she showed and pointed what she was talking about to both boys.

"Hmmm let's see. It says, 'This is the official map of the Kanto region as of January 1, 1988.' So what were you showing us, it just says that this map is official as of 1988...WHAT?? 1988?! That's way back twenty years ago. Martin, you've got some explanation to do." Melford said as a vein popped in his forehead. "Weren't you mad that we couldn't get out of this forest right? You also said that we should count on you in situations like this eh?! So what is the meaning of this?" Melford asked in barrage as he was already turning red.

"Ah urm. Well it has the official logo so I thought it would come in handy. And besides, Kanto region couldn't change that much in twenty years, right?" asked Martin as he was already saying his prayers.

"Why you..." Melford threatened.

"What why me? Then how about you lead us out of here Mr. Perfect. Let's see how you fare." Martin retorted as he stood for himself.

"Why me? You're the one who has an official map right?" Melford answered back.

"Hey guys cut it out. Fighting at this time is absolutely unnecessary. We should all just calm down and think of a way to get out of this forest." Leah said as she was trying to stop a fight that's about to happen.

The words Leah said don't seem to reach the two big-headed boys brain so she decided to put the matters in her own hands. "Pikachu, come on out and Thundershock these two." she said as she released Pikachu out of the Pokeball.

"Pikachu" Pikachu shouted while unleashing bolts of electricity which hit both Melford and Martin.

"Ahhhhh." Both boys shouted as they were being electrified.

"Ok Pikachu. That's enough." Leah said as she recalled Pikachu back to its Pokeball. "Learned your lessons yet?"

"Yes mam." both boys answered while lying on the ground burnt, anime style.

Melford then stood up while Martin, who was feeling more electrified, still was lying on the grass. "Oh dear, did that hurt?" Leah asked in concern.

"Oh don't worry about him. He'll get over it quite soon." Melford said. "Hey what's that?" Melford continued as he saw something flying toward them. It isn't big, well in fact it's quite small but Melford and Leah can't identify it because the flying thin is in the same direction as the sun so Melford and Leah decided to use their Pokedex.

"Pidgey, the bird Pokemon. Pidgey can usually be seen in forests. It flaps its wings to kick up blinding sand. Pidgey are usually friendly making it an excellent choice for a starting trainer." the Pokedex said.

"A Pidgey eh? Well time to catch my first Pokemon. Charmander, let's battle." Melford said as he released Charmander out of its Pokeball. "Hey Pidgey, let's battle." Melford shouted to Pidgey. Pidgey heard it and it went to battle position.

"Charmander, use your ember." Melford commanded. Charmander then unleashed pellet-like fireballs from its mouth. But Pidgey was quick so it dodged the ember by flying. While flying, Pidgey dived towards Charmander and it delivered a tackle attack.

"Oh no. Charmander get up and use a leer attack." ordered Melford. Charmander got up on its feet and he stared at Pidgey. A little too scary stare I might add. Pidgey froze in fear as Charmander stared at it.

"Quick Charmander, use another ember." Charmander once again shot out pellet-like fireball. But unlike before, this time it connects. "Good Charmander, now tackle it before it recovers." While Pidgey was still recovering from the ember attack, Charmander headed towards it and after a while, slams into it which caused Pidgey to faint.

"Pokeball go." Melford said as he threw an empty Pokeball towards Pigdey. The Pokeball, as it hit Pidgey, started shaking. After shaking for three times it stopped. Melford walked towards it and picked up the Pokeball.

"Yes. I caught my very first Pokemon. Thanks for the help Charmander." Melford patted Charmander on the head as Leah stared smiling at Melford.

"Congratulations Melford." Leah congratulated Melford.

Melford smiled a goofy smile and said, "I caught a Pidgey."

"Squirtle, water gun."

"Huh?!" Melford and Leah wondered and they turned their heads to Martin who was now currently battling a Pokemon. "Hey Martin, you're awake." Melford said.

"Yeah. It took some time but when I awoke, I saw this Spearow and now I'm battling it trying to capture it. Great move Squirtle, now tackle it." Martin commanded.

The Pokemon called Spearow dodged Squirtle's tackle by flying.

"Hey, it's also a flying type. I gotta check this out." Melford said as he got his Pokedex once again and pointed it towards Spearow.

"Spearow, the beak Pokemon. Though Spearows cannot fly high, it is very fast even when flying at low altitudes." the Pokedex said.

"Squirtle, aim carefully and water gun it." Squirtle did exactly what Martin said and it managed to hit Spearow. "Squirtle, while it's distracted use bubble." Squirtle unleashed small bubbles from its mouth and it hit Spearow. This caused Spearow to fall down and it fainted. "Pokeball go." Martin said while he threw a Pokeball towards Spearow. The Pokeball shook a few times before it stopped, meaning the capture was successful.

"Great catch Martin. Now both you and Melford caught your first Pokemon." Leah said.

"Yeah. I guess so. Hey maybe we could use our flying types to direct us out of this forest." Melford recommended.

"Hey. That could work. Come on out, Spearow." Martin said as Spearow went out of its Pokeball. "Hey Spearow, fly and search the exit of this forest." Martin said.

"Come on out, Pidgey." Melford said as he released Pidgey from its Pokeball. "Pidgey, help Spearow to find the exit of this forest."

With that said, both flying types flew up and started to search for the exit. Unknown to them, someone or something was watching over them. And since Squirtle, Charmander, and Pikachu has yet to be returned to their Pokeballs, they noticed the bush was slightly shaking. At this, they decided to call the attention of their trainers.

"What's the matter Charmander?" Melford asked as Charmander tugged Melford pants.

"Something bothering you Squirtle?" Martin asked to Squirtle.

"Hey, something wrong Pikachu?" Leah asked her Pikachu as Pikachu leaped in Leah's arms.

At the same time, the three Pokemon pointed towards the bush. As the trainers looked at it, a Butterfree peeked at them.

"It's only a Butterfree, Charmander." Melford reassured his Charmander.

"Hey wait. It seems it's injured." Leah said as she ran towards the Butterfree. She inspected Butterfree and true to her words, Butterfree seemed to have injured its wing. "Don't worry Butterfree. I'll help you." Leah said as she got a potion from her backpack. She then sprayed the potion at Butterfree's wings and lo and behold, the potion worked and Butterfree was able to fly again.

"Preee" Butterfree said as it flew up and circled Leah.

"Cool, I think it's trying to say thank you to you Leah." Melford said.

"Hey guys, here comes Spearow and Pidgey." Martin interrupted. Pidgey and Spearow landed in front of Martin. "You guys found the exit?" Martin asked both flying types.

Pidgey and Spearow nodded their heads and they flew up. They circled the trainers twice and flew towards the exit, leading the way. "Well guys, it seemed that both found the way. They're leading us out of here. Better recall our Pokemon. Squirtle return." Martin said as he recalled Squirtle.

"Charmander return." Melford said as he too, recalled Charmander to its Pokeball.

"Pikachu return." Leah said as she returned Pikachu to its Pokeball. Leah then stood up, "Bye Butterfree, try not to move so much yet. But I'm sure your wings will heal in no time."

As Leah bid farewell, the three trainers ran towards Pigey and Spearow leaving Butterfree behind. Butterfree seemed to be upset so it followed the trainers.

"Hey guys, I see the exit." Melford said as they still continue to run.

Pidgey and Spearow then stopped and landed. Melford and Martin then recalled their Pokemon back. Then the three trainers looked at the sign nearby. Melford decided to read it "Hmm it says, 'Thanks for visiting Viridian Forest. This is the exit.' It seems Pidgey and Spearow really did find the exit. Well, it's time to leave this forest once and for all."

"Preee"

"Hey guys, looks like Butterfree followed us." Leah said. Butterfree then flew to Leah's shoulder.

"Hey Leah, I think Butterfree likes to join you in your journey." Martin said.

"Is that true Butterfree? Do you really want me to be your trainer?" Asked Leah. "Preee" Butterfree said as it nodded its head.

"Ok then." Leah got a spare Pokeball from her Pokebelt and pointed it towards Butterfree. Butterfree then hit the Pokeball with its tiny paws and soon entered the Pokeball. "Alright, I caught a Butterfree." Leah said.

"Good for you Leah. Now it's time to leave this forest." Martin said.

The three Pallet trainers then continued walking and soon reached Viridian City. The city looked so lively.

"Hey, it seems to be getting dark. We better go eat something for dinner in a restaurant." Melford recommended.

"Look there. It seems that there is a restaurant down there." Martin said.

The three trainers then walked towards the restaurant. When they reached the restaurant, they saw a man in a Kingler costume giving away free flyers.

"Hmm it says that this restaurant is named 'Burger Kingler'. It says that Burger Kingler is a restaurant that is an expert in making burgers. Cool, burgers. So how about we eat here for dinner then after that let's stay at the Pokemon Center for the night." Melford said.

"Ok." Martin and Leah agreed.

**After 45 minutes…..**

"I'm stuffed." Melford said as the three trainers exited Burger Kingler.

"Yeah. Mostly at my cost." Leah grumbled.

**FLASHBACK**

After the three trainers ordered their meal. They picked a spot and they waited for their meal. Soon enough, their meal was already served, mostly consisting of well, burgers.

"Wow, When the flyer said that Burger Kingler delivers fastfood, they really meant it." Melford said.

"Yeah. Well it's for the better since the faster we finish eating, the faster we could sleep." Leah said.

As they finished their meal, the waiter came by and gave them their bill. "That would be **(Melford burped)** please." The waiter said.

"Ok guys. We share the bill equally ok." Leak said.

Melford and Martin then looked at Leah smiling. "Um Leah. You didn't forget right. Me and Melford have no money here." Martin whispered to Leah.

"What?! So do you mean to tell me that I'll have to pay this myself?" Leah then grumbled.

"Sorry Leah. But if we do have money we'll pay you back. Promise." Melford said.

"Oh ok. I have no choice do I." Leah said as she got money from her wallet and handed it to the waiter.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

"I promise Leah. We'll really pay when we have money." Melford said.

"Fine." Leah said as she crossed arms.

"Hey Leah. There's the Pokemon Center. Why don't you go ahead and book us while me and Martin go to a bookstore to find an official 2008 Map. It's dangerous when you walk at night so go ahead. We'll come back after 30 minutes." Melford said to Leah.

"Oh ok." Leah said as she is still grumbling about her money.

Melford then grabbed Martin and dragged him towards the nearest bookstore. "Hey Melford, are you out of your mind? We have no money remember?" Martin said.

"I know. So the two us will convince the bookstore manager to give us a free map." Melford said.

"I don't know Melford. This might not work out. I think we should just try tomorrow." Martin said worryingly as it was already nighttime.

"Oh come on. Don't be a chicken." Melford said.

After some walking, they reached the bookstore and to their luck, it was still open. Both boys went in and they saw a 2008 official Map and grabbed it.

"Um Mr. Manager," Melford said as he spoke to a man wearing an eyeglass.

"Hey how do know that's the manager?" asked Martin.

"Look at his ID." Melford said as he pointed towards the ID of the man.

"May I help you young lads?" asked the manager.

"Well you see sir. We currently don't have money so I request please sir. Could you give us this map for free?" asked Melford.

"Hm. Are you lads new here?" asked the manager.

"Um yes sir. We came from Pallet Town." Martin replied.

"Ah Pallet Town. So how did you reach this place if you didn't have a map to begin with?" asked the manager.

"You see sir. My friend here has a map. But we didn't expect it to be so useless. So we reached this city by pure luck." Melford said.

"A useless map? How did that happen?" asked again the manager.

Martin then pulled out his 1988 map and showed it to the manager. "Well sir, I didn't notice that this was a 1988 map so needless to say, we ended up being lost." said Martin as he scratched the back of his head embarrassed.

"Good heavens. This is an official 1988 map. Where did you get this?" asked the now very excited manager.

"From our attic." said Martin.

"Hey boys, can I buy your map. I offer you **(some random customer sneezed)**, so how about it." asked the manager.

"That much money sir?!" asked both boys who was now confused as to why a useless map cost so much.

"Well you see, I collect antique maps. Look at that shelf, I had collected every official map from 1980. And the only map I lack is a 1988 official map. Sow how about it. I'll even give you this map for free." said the manager.

"It's a deal." both boys said in unison.

As the boys went out of the bookstore, "Man, how lucky are we." said Martin.

"You said it. Who would think that map would give us money? Which turned out for the better so we could already pay Leah our debts." said Melford as he remembered their debt.

"Oh yeah. Well it doesn't really matter to me now. After all, she's a great friend and without her, we would have died out of hunger back there in Viridian Forest." said Martin.

"Yeah." said Melford. 'Hey, come to think of it. In the games, Viridian Forest is in between Viridian City and Pewter City. But the Viridian Forest we saw was on the way to Viridian City. What's going on?' thought Melford.

"Hey Martin, I thought Viridian Forest was located between Viridian City and Pewter City. Then how come we encountered Viridian Forest on our way towards Viridian City?" asked Melford.

"Haha, nice joke you got there. Of course we all know that Viridian Forest was in between Viridian City and Pewter City, but that was over 10 years ago. You do know that Viridian Forest is located between Pallet Town and Viridian City, right? Which makes the forest between Viridian City and Pewter City called Viridian Forest Dungeon 2." Martin replied.

"Viridian Forest Dungeon 2? What's with the name? And why does Kanto have two Viridian Forests?" Melford asked in confusion.

"Rumors said that the Viridian Forest in the past was too small for the Pokemon Population in there. So people created a new Viridian Forest on the south of Viridian City." Martin replied.

"People actually created a new forest?" Melford asked in surprise.

"Well yes. But rumors said that a Pokemon helped them create a new forest. And not just one Pokemon helped them, two Pokemon helped in creating Viridian Forest. I heard their names are Cebeli? No, was it Lebeci? Or maybe Lecebi? Well I actually don't remember." Martin said as he went into a state of thinking trying to remember that name.

Melford sweatdropped while hearing this. 'Maybe he's talking about Celebi, the Forest Guardian. But I thought Celebi was only in Johto? I guess Legendary Pokemon really roam around the World.' Melford thought. "Hey wait, what about the other Pokemon? What is its name?" Melford asked.

"Oh the other one. The other one I don't exactly recall. When I heard it'd name it didn't sound familiar at all. I think it's from another region. I think it was Shaydin or Shayklin or something close to that." Martin said.

Melford once again sweatdropped. 'This guy sure has poor memory. That one was Shaymin. Man, even Sinnoh Pokemon were found in Kanto. Times sure had changed here in this world.'

"Well back to the subject, how come people changed the name of the original Viridian Forest?" Melford asked once more.

"Well people say that the original Viridian Forest was far too small to call it a forest. So they just made it Dungeon 2. And now the Viridian Forest on the south of Viridian City was already the main forest for the Pokemon. Although there are still a small amount of Pokemon population on Viridian Forest Dungeon 2. But don't worry, Viridian Forest Dungeon 2 is only 1/3 the size of Viridian Forest so I think we could make it out by half a day. So that's why we should hurry back to the Pokemon Center and go to sleep so we could wake up early and leave early. And besides, Leah has already been waiting for us for about 30 minutes so we should go back." Martin said.

"Oh ok." Melford replied. 'Gee, so many has changed between the games and the real Pokemon World. I guess I couldn't count now on my knowledge of Kanto Region. Even the location of Viridian Forest is entirely new to me. Wait, if many things have changed between the games and the real Pokemon World, then that must mean that there are also Pokemon now that can be found in entirely new places. It looks like I need to use my Pokedex in this world. Who knows, if the places have changed, maybe Pokemon Data were also upgraded.' Melford thought.

"Hey Melford, there's the Pokemon Center now, we ought to be faster. It's getting quite dark." Martin said.

With that, both boys ran towards the Pokemon Center. And soon enough, they had entered it and Leah greeted them.

"What took you guys so long? Another 15 minutes and Nurse Joy would've closed the door." Leah asked.

"Well, we bought a new map. And not only that, we now have extra money for our journey." Martin said.

"Hey, how did you guys get the money. Don't tell me you guys have stolen something?" Leah said.

"Hey hey hey. Martin may be a bad boy but he wouldn't steal anything. And of course I'm there to make sure he doesn't do anything bad." Melford said.

"Why does it always have to be me?" Martin grumbled.

"I wasn't talking about Martin mister. I was talking about you. For your age you're quite immature. And even though Martin's younger by 2 years, I think he could handle himself more than you could." Leah said lecturing Melford.

"Yey. Someone finally understands that I'm more mature than Melford." Martin said in glee while jumping around happily.

"Am I that immature?" Melford said as he sulked in the corner fidgeting his fingers.

"Well Leah. I think your friends have made it here. Now I could close the Pokemon Center." Nurse Joy said as she passed by.

"Oh thanks for waiting them Nurse Joy." Leah said.

"Oh hey Leah, did you manage to get some rooms?" Martin asked.

"Yeah, and it's for free." Leah said.

"For free? How come?" Melford asked.

"Well of course it's for free. After all, all of us are qualified trainers. And since qualified trainers can stay at a Pokemon Center for free, I got us a free room." Leah said.

"Oh, ok." Melford said. 'Whew, good thing it's free to stay for the night in here. Of course how would I know it, characters in the games don't sleep in the Pokemon Center.' Melford thought.

Soon enough, all three Pallet trainers went to their rooms and decided to have a peaceful sleep.

To be continued……..

Hope you guys enjoy. It seems though that my story isn't that popular. I just have one review, not that I'm complaining. In fact, I'm quite happy someone took time to review my story.

I might be unable to write for a while. And also, I'm currently working on a Pokeshipping fic. Expect it after about 1-2 weeks.

**P4L **


	5. That Thing's Rare

**Author's Note:** Well guys, here's the 5th chapter. I know some of you wondered what took me so long. But 3 weeks ago, my computer got infected with a trojan virus. It erased all of my files. Including all of my chapters and my nearly finished Pokeshipping fic. And not only that, I lost all of Pokemon episodes. From Pokemon season 1 up to Pokemon season 10. "Sniff" It took me three months to download all of those episodes. And to think I'll lose all of it in one night.

So advice for all, immediately delete every SPAM email you receive and always scan your computer twice a week.

So for all the dissappointed people who wanted an update (if there's any) here's a long chapter for you guys.

* * *

Chapter 5: That Thing's Rare

"Ah. That was a great sleep." Melford said as he had just woken up from his slumber. As most people do, he stretched his arm and flexed his muscles while yawning. After that, he saw the clock that read '5:46 AM'. "Hm, it's still early but I better go to the cafeteria. I'm hungry."

As soon as he said that, he got out of his bed and changed into his casual clothes. He looked at Martin and Leah and saw that both were still asleep so he decided not to wake them up.

Melford got out of their room and headed over to Nurse Joy's main desk. And to his luck, he saw the Pokemon Nurse scribbling something on her notebook and asked her a question. "Um Nurse Joy?" Melford said hoping to get her attention.

The Pokemon Nurse quickly closed her notebook and she wore her Nurse Hat quickly and asked worryingly, "How many Pokemon are injured?"

Melford stared at the Nurse for a while as he sweatdropped, "Um NUrse Joy. I have no injured Pokemon. I was just gonna ask you something."

Nurse Joy quickly processed what happened and she blushed with embarrasment. "Ahehe, sorry about that. So what do you want ask?"

"Are my Pokemon fully healed yet Nurse Joy?" Melford asked.

NUrse Joy quickly thought about it and answered, "Ah yes. Even your friends' Pokemon are fully healed. Do want to retrieve them? They're cleared so you can take them anytime."

"Yes, please." Melford answered. "Oh and also, I'm gonna take Martin's and Leah's Pokemon so I could feed them too."

"Sure." Nurse Joy replied as she went inside the Pokeball Storage Room. After about 2 minutes she came back carrying all of the Pokeballs needed. "Here Melford. Anyway, do you have any Pokechows with you."

After watching the Pokemon Anime in the real world, Melford knew that a Pokechow is a term for Pokemon Food so he answered, "I have none, Nurse Joy. Do you know where I could get some?"

Nurse Joy pointed her finger towards the West Wing and said, "Just go through there and soon you'll reach the Pokechow Section. And also, next to the Pokechow Section is the Cafeteria Section so you can also eat there while feeding your Pokemon."

"Thanks Nurse Joy. And please tell Martin and Leah that I already took their Pokemon and that I'm already feeding them." Melford said as he headed towards the West Wing.

"Sure." Nurse Joy replied as she opened her notebook once again and scribbled something. What it says, no one knows.

Melford headed towards the West Wing carrying seven Pokeballs and soon enough, he saw the Pokechow Section which is next to the Cafeteria. Priotirizing his Pokemon, he headed to the Pokechow Section first. Since it was still early in the morning, he was the only trainer in there. He headed towards the counter and saw a middle-aged man reading a 'Naruto Chapter 398' manga. "Um Mister. Can you please feed these Pokemon?"

"Oh a customer. And a young one too. So, how many Pokemon do you have there?" the man asked as he inserted his manga inside the drawer.

"I have seven right now sir." Melford said. "Um but don't worry, I just own two Pokemon and the others are my friends'."

"Hey hey there. No need for formalities. Just call me Robert. So, can you please show me all those Pokemon." The man, now identified as Robert, asked.

Melford didn't know why he should show all his Pokemon but just complied. "Everyone, it's morning and time for breakfast."

The seven Pokeballs thrown into the air opened and released seven little creatures. Robert stared at all of them and stated, "Hm. Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Pikachu, Butterfree, Pidgey, and Spearow. Okay, I'll prepare their Pokechow specifically for their types. Please wait for about 5 minutes."

"Sure." melford said. He then kneeled and looked at all the Pokemon. "Hey guys. Sorry if I disturbed your sleep. I thought you would want to eat already so I decided to feed you. Oh and also, Leah and Martin are still asleep. You could say I'm a morning person so I woke up early."

"Hey kid." Robert interrupted. "Here are the Pokechows. Give the red bowl to Charmander, the blue bowl to Squirtle, the green bowl to Bulbasaur, the yellow one to Pikachu, the purple one to Butterfree, and give the brown ones to Pidgey and Spearow."

Melford complied and did what was said. He then talked to Robert, "Um sir, I'm quite hungry already so can I leave my Pokemon here for awhile while I eat at the Cafeteria?"

"Sure." Robert said. "I don't mind. Just go and eat. After all, the Cafeteria is just at the next section so you could come in anytime."

"Thanks sir." Melford replied. He then talked to all of the Pokemon, "Ok guys. I'm just gonna be at the next section. Be good Pokemon there okay? Don't rush your eating. Bye." Melford then headed towards the Cafeteria section.

**POKEMON POV**

"So how're you guys?" Bulbasaur asked.

"Fine." All replied.

"Anyway," Bulbasaur stated, "What are your opinions about our trainers?" Bulbasaur asked out of curiousity.

Charmander was the first one to speak, "Melford's okay for me. He's quite the trainer you know."

After Charmander spoke, Squirtle decided to be next, "Martin's a good trainer for me. He commanded me very well when we battled against those Beedrills."

Since the two starters said their opinions, BUlbasaur also stated that, "Well for me. I think that Leah is the best. Although she doesn't quite know how to handle me effectively, she seems very caring."

Squirtle then also spoke up, "How about you Pidgey, Spearow, Butterfree, and Pikachu, do you find our trainers comfortable to be with?"

"Of course." Pidgey stated. "Melford's cool. I know he's a good trainer the way he battled me yesterday. I'm a Flying-type so in terms of adaptability, I have the edge on Charmander. But he handled Charmander well so I was defeated. I'm looking forward to his development. Who knows, he might be able to evolve me into a Pidgeot."

Spearow then also spoke, "Martin's also a great trainer. Ever since, I wanted to compete in the Pokemon League. And if Martin's skilled enough, I just may be able to achieve my dream. Side by side with Martin of course."

Pikachu also spoke up, "I think Leah is very caring so I like her. She seems gentle with Pokemon and that's what's cool with her. I know Butterfree will agree with me. After all, Leah treated her right?"

"Yup." Butterfree agreed. "That's why I followed her yesterday."

Bulbasaur then spoke up once again, "It seems like we all like our trainers. Anyway, let's start eating already. Our trainers might be back before we know it."

All of the other Pokemon quickly agreed and decided to dig in.

**END OF POKEMON POV**

Back with Melford...

"Hm. I'll just have Beacon and Eggs sir." Melford said as he ordered at the counter. There weren't that many customers since it was early so he got his order quickly. As he carried his tray he spotted a vacant seat. He saw a seat for three people and decided to sit there.

Melford then started eating by himself. Midway through his meal, he heard some voices calling him and saw that it was his friends, Martin and Leah. Both of his friends sat with Melford and started a conversation.

"Hey, why didn't you wake us up?" Asked Martin.

"Well both of you were sleeping peacefully so I decided not to wake you up. And by the way, all of our Pokemon is at the Pokechow Section eating." Melford said.

"Yup. Nurse Joy informed us that you got our Pokemon. Anyway, I'm gonna order already, anything you want Leah?" Martin asked.

"Hm. Just beacon and egg." Leah stated.

With that, Martin headed towards the counter and ordered the food they want. There are already quite a few people so his order may take some time.

"Man. You guys are heavy sleepers." Melford said to Leah.

"Excuse me. You're the one who's an early bird. See, it's just 6:12 AM." Leah retorted.

"Yeah yeah. Anyway, how's sleep?" Melford asked.

"It's fine and peaceful. How about yours?" Leah asked.

"Fine also." Melford replied.

"Why do seem so gloomy?" Leah asked. "Are you sick? Or you don't wanna talk to me? Or you have a problem?"

"Huh?" Melford said confused. He then thought about what Leah said and replied, "You see. Back where I came from, I didn't have any friends. Although many people befriended me, at the end they'll just turn their backs on me and leave me alone. So you can say that talking socially with others makes me fee; uncomfortable." He said as he thought about the unpleasant days he spent on the real world.

Surprisingly, Leah seemed to understand Melford. She then lifted her head and replied, "Ha. Well you know, I personally think that at the start of a journey, you must leave all of your past behind you. After all, a new journey will never coincide with past ones. It's like turning over a new leaf. I also had some unpleasant moments in the past, but now I know. I found true friends with Martin, you, and my Pokemon."

Melford stared at Leah the whole time she talked. 'It looks like she understands my position.' He thought. Melford then smiled and stated, "You know something?"

"Hm?" Leah said as she looked at Melford.

"I never thought about it but since you said it, I also think that I found true friends with you, Martin, and of course, our Pokemon. I just don't know why, but something inside of me feels that I've known you guys ever since. But of course it ain't obvious because I'm not the type of person who speaks socially." Melford stated.

Coincidentally, Martin heard part of their conversation and decided to lighten up their mood, "Hey guys. How about we make a promise to each other?"

"Sure." Melford said in which Leah agreed to.

Martin then spoke once again, "Okay. Starting this very moment, all of us will promise that we will never turn our backs on each other and will always be with each other no matter what the circumstances are. That all of us will be the very best of friends we could ever be." Martin said as he placed his hand on the center of the table. Soon enough, Melford placed his hand on top of Martin's and Leah placed hers on top of Melford's hand. And at the same time, the trios said, "Promise."

Martin then said once again, "Now that we've created our promise, we shall never ever break it no matter what."

With that happening, some of the customers in the cafeteria can't help but stare at the trio.

Leah noticed this and quickly jumped into action, "Ahehe. Sorry folks. We were just practicing a play."

Melford and Martin wondered what she said and noticed the customers looking at them weirdly. Since there was no way out, Melford and Martin then joined with Leah's acting and decided to 'Go with the flow'.

After eating, they all went to the Pokechow Section and saw their Pokemon which weren't done eating yet.

Leah and Martin quickly greeted their Pokemon and headed towards a vacant seat. There, they discussed their next plans for travelling. Leah then started, "Since you guys want to compete in the Pokemon League, I think we'll head towards Pewter City next. There's a Gym there so we'll head there first."

Martin studied the map and said, "Well, it looks like we're gonna cross Viridian Forest Dungeon 2 to get there. The forest is fairly small so if we head out at 7, we will reach Pewter City by 11."

"Then we'll head towards Pewter City then. Our Pokemon are nearly finished eating so we can head out earlier." Melford said.

"Hey Melford. I'm gonna challenge the Pewter Gym first okay." Martin said.

"What? Why?" Melford whimpered.

"Pewter Gym is a Rock-type Gym so I know for sure that my Squirtle can handle it. But you're different, you only have Charmander and Pidgey. Both of which are ineffective against Rock-types and you know it. So while I challenge the Pewter Gym, you can create strategies you that you could use against Rock-types." Martin said.

"Hm. You're right. Wait a sec, I'll just check my Pokedex." Melford said as he opened his Pokedex. "Yes."

"What's that you're looking at?" Leah asked.

"Look guys." Melford said as he showed his Pokedex towards Martin and Leah which showed Charmander's Pokedex Page. "It looks like my Charmander can learn Metal Claw which is effective against Rock-types."

"It seems that way. So, does Charmander know how to use it?" Martin asked.

"Uh." Melford sweatdropped. "I don't know."

Martin and Leah fell anime style. Martin got up and said, "Well what are you waiting for? Tell Charmander to use it."

"Right." Melford agreed. "Charmander, use Metal Claw."

Charmander looked at Melford at first as he analyzed the situation. Charmander then got up and raised his right hand. The tip of Charmander's right hand then glowed white and scratched Melford.

"Charmander. I didn't say use it on me." Melford scolded.

Charmander just whimpered and said sorry in his language.

Martin and Leah just chuckled at the scene. Melford got annoyed and stated, "What are you guys chuckling for?"

"Hehe nothing." Martin stated. "It was just that your shirt got torn."

"Oh okay." Melford said. "WHAT!!" He then looked at his shirt. "Oh no. It's torn. CHAR-MAN-DER!!" Melford said dangerously.

Charmander knew what was going to happen so he decided to run for his dear life. Melford quickly give chase as the two ran around the Pokechow Section in circles.

Leah saw all of this and also saw a PokeChow Maker Machine in the corner near the counter. She walked towards it and started examining it.

Robert, the Pokechow Section cook, saw this and decided to start a conversation, "Key kid. It seems you have interest in that machine, eh?"

Leah got startled by this and quickly turned around to see the person talking to her, "Um yes. Um, not to be rude sir, but who are you?"

The man remembered that he hasn't introduced his self yet, "Ahaha, I'm sorry young lady. I'm Robert, the cook and manager of this Pokechow Section. How about you? You seem like a friend of young Melford there." Robert explained.

Leah saw this as an opportunity for her to ask something, "Yes sir. I'm indeed a friend of Melford and Martin. And I'm Leah. I was just wondering, what is this machine for, sir? It's labeled as 'Pokechow Make Machine'. Does this mean that this machine is the one that makes Pokechow for Pokemon?"

"Ah yes. This machine here indeed helps me create Pokechows." Said the middle-aged man.

Melford then decided to interrupt their conversation with a question, "Huh? But sir, I thought YOU made Pokechows for these Pokemon a while ago. So what do you mean this machine here helped you?"

"The Pokechow I gave to your Pokemon a while ago was indeed made by me. The reason that I didn't use this machine is because I ran out of berries. As you know, various combinations of berries make a perfect meal depending on the Pokemon and berries used." The man explained.

"Oh I see. That was why you gave my Pokemon Pokechow you manually made because you ran out of berries. Ah no no, Charmander don't think you'll get away from me that easily. Come back here." Melford shouted as he gave chase to his Red-Lizard friend.

"Hm," Leah wondered, "Sir? Is it possible for me to create Pokechows while outdoors? You know, with no machines, only berries?"

The man pondered for a moment, "Sure you can. All you need to do is collect the right types of berries, then mash them all up, mix them together, and voila, the Pokechow is done. But that may take some time because there are some berries which have extremely hard skin. That's why people here use this Pokechow Make Machine to save energy and time. But if you're outdoors, and you have no choice, you can always create Pokechows the manual way."

Leah then began to stare at the machine for a moment. Then she shifted her sight to the Pokemon. Then once again, shifted her sight towards her two male companions. Robert saw all of this and quickly understood what's on her mind. "Hey kid," Robert called.

Leah then shifted her attention to Robert.

Robert then started talking once again, "I know what you're thinking. You want to know how to create Pokechows the manual way right?"

Leah stared at the man and nodded, "Yes."

"I see. I think I know why. You want to take the responsibility of taking care all of these Pokemon right. I'm guessing either because, you owe something to them, or because you deem them quite irresponsible." The man said.

"HEY!!" Melford and Martin shouted.

Leah giggled at this scene, "Actually sir, both."

The man then laughed for a bit, "Ahaha. Well it's nice to see young Pokemon trainers travelling in groups. And if this is your way in showing your part for your group, how can I object?" After saying that, the man went into his desk and got a book and headed towards Leah, "Well kid. Here's a book for helping you. This book lists all kinds of berries known to man. It also lists what berries each Pokemon likes. And last but not the least, it also lists the berries effects, compounds, and nutrients for you to create a well-balanced meal for those Pokemon. I figured that I should give this book to help you. Your group has quite a variety of Pokemon so I thought you needed a guide. But remember, some berries have extremely hard shells so don't hesitate to call the help of your friends okay?" The man said.

Melford and Martin can't help but hear their conversation so they butted in. Martin was the first to talk, "Of course we'll help her mister. That's what friends are for, you know?! After all, if she's in charge of our food and our Pokemon's food, we know that we should help her. That's the least thing we could do."

Melford also added some talk, "Yeah. We three are the best of friends so we'll help each other in any way we can."

After their speech, Leah then spoke up, "When did you guys make that speech? It's quite corny if you ask me."

Melford and Martin facefaulted at what Leah said.

"But it's also true." Leah added. The trio then smiled again.

"Well I think you guys are starting to learn the value of teamwork. Anyways, all of your Pokemon are done eating so why don't you guys resume your journey. It's already 6:37. I overheard that you guys will head out at 7 right? Oh and Melford, it seems like your shirt is ruined." Said Robert.

"Yeah." Melford then looked at Charmander which in turn, just sweatdropped.

"Haha." Robert laughed, "There's a shop at the East Wing so I think you could buy a shirt in there."

"Really?" Melford asked in which Robert nodded to. "Then let's head there first guys, I'm gonna buy a new shirt for me."

"Okay." Both Leah and Martin agreed.

Melford then made a quick dash towards the East Wing. With Leah and Martin running behind him. As Leah ran, she waved her hand towards Robert, who also waved his hand in a good-bye manner.

When the trio were out of sight, Robert then smiled. "It seems they're off to a good start." Robert said. He then glowed pure white and changed his form. He turned into a white-cloaked man figure. His face wasn't visible at all. His white cloak was long enough to cover his arms and legs. "I'm looking towards your progress, Martin, Leah, and you, Melford. The three of you, be strong. Strong enough to defeat enemies. But be humble, for humbleness will be necessary for your progress. And last but not the least, strengthen your friendship. For your friendship is what will bind the three of you together. Good luck." With that said, the white-cloaked human, or human figure, dispersed into particles.

After that scene, a man, who has the same face as the guy a while ago, entered through the back door. "Oh man oh man. I'm late for opening this store. I'm sure Nurse Joy will scold me again. Hey," the man said noticing the mess, "What happened here? Maybe it's just some leftover mess yesterday. I hope I didn't lose any customers while I overslept. Hm, I better clean up."

With Melford. Martin, and Leah...

"Hey guys," Melford said as he took the attention of his two friends, "What do think of this shirt? Quite cool huh?"

Melford showed his friends the shirt he intends to buy. It's a red shirt white a fire design in the chest area. It has the words 'Pokemon' in the upper back of the shirt and has a fire insignia in its right sleeve.

"Isn't it great?" Melford asked.

"Pretty good. I suggest you buy it. With Martin having a blue shirt, it signifies his starter, Squirtle. And with me wearing a green vest, it signifies my Bulbasaur. And that shirt would be perfect for you, signifying you Charmander." Leah suggested.

"Hm. Why didn't I think of that? Ok then it's final, I'll take this shirt." Melford said proudly.

After about 10 minutes...

"There," Melford said as he zipped his travelling bag, "Preparations are done. We'll head now guys."

As the trio exited the Pokemon Center, they quickly asked citizens directions to reach Viridian Forest Dungeon 2. After a bit of questioning, they reached the entrance of Viridian Forest Dungeon 2.

"Guys. No use standing here. Viridian Forest Dungeon 2 is quite small so we can get out of this forest within 3-4 hours. Until then, let's just stick together." Martin said in which his friends agreed to.

Their forest trip wasn't much of an excitement. There were no trainers and the only Pokemon that seemed to inhabit the forest were just Caterpies and Weedles. After 30 minutes of walking, Leah noticed something, "Guys, is it just me or the fog is getting thicker."

Melford then checked their surroundings, "Yeah. It seems like it. And to think that there was only a minor fog a while ago. If this goes on, sooner or later we wouldn't be able to see what's in front of us."

"Better stay close guys. We don't know what might happen in this forest." Martin said.

While walking slowly, a Pokemon unknown to them suddenly shouted "GRAAHHHHH".

"Ahhhh" The trio shouted in shock. Since all three were scared to death, they all ran in different directions. None of them stopped running. They ran and ran until they got tired.

Luckily for Leah, she managed to run towards the exit. She quickly saw the exit of the forest and went there, "Wait. I must wait here till Martin and Melford get here. I just hope they get here sooner." As soon as she said that, a Vulpix walked in front of her, "How cute." She said as her eyes turned into hearts, quickly forgetting about the situation their in.

In the case of Martin, he ran to the bushes and hid there. In there, he spotted a lone Nidoran Male and decided to try to capture it. "Sorry Nidoran." Martin said as he got a Pokeball. "I'm gonna add you to my Pokemon list.

With Melford, he ran towards near the river. There he sat on the grass and decided to catch his breath. "Just what kind of Pokemon did that screeching? I sure hope I don't meet that Pokemon."

While he ran a while ago, the fog seem to have been slowly dispersing. "I didn't notice that the fog was slowly dispersing. Good for me though, now it's gonna be a lot easier finding the exit." As soon as he said those words, he heard the, "GRAAAAHHHHH".

"Oh no. That Pokemon again, but this time it seems louder. Charmander, come on out and help me." He said as he threw Charmander's Pokeball in the air. Out of the Pokeball, his Charmander materialized in front of him. "Charmander, be on guard. It looks like there are 3-5 Pokemon lurking around here."

Charmander then looked at their surroundings, and so did Melford. Melford then looked straight forward and saw 4 small creatures. As soon as as the fog dispersed completely, he saw the Pokemon making those screeching sounds. There were 4 Grimers ganging up on a tiny but long Pokemon. And because Melford was quite far from the Grimers, he can't figure out what the tiny Pokemon was. But from its figure, it was a small serpentine-like creature.

Melford knew that those Grimers were bullying the tiny Pokemon so he commanded his Charmander, "Charmander, help the tiny Pokemon there. Use you Ember." Charmander quickly unleashed small pellet-like fireballs from his mouth and fired it towards the Grimers. All the Grimers were hit unexpectedly so all of them flee and hid. Melford quickly ran towards the little creature. And when he was close enough, he saw that the tiny Pokemon was in fact a Dratini.

"What in the Pokemon World is a Dratini doing here? I thought they only existed in the Safari Zone, Dragon's Den, and Mt. Coronet. Better check my Pokedex for updates." Said Melford as he pulled out his Pokedex and pointed it towards Dratini.

"Dratini, the Dragon Pokemon," The Pokedex started, "Dratini are extremely rare nowadays. Some even believe that Dratini were nothing more than a myth. 60 Percent of Dratini spottings were near water areas."

"I see. Since there is a river here, this must be the place where this Dratini lives." Melford concluded. Melford then went near Dratini. The Dratini saw him but it was still curled up. Mostly because it was terrified of the Grimers who attacked. "Don't worry Dratini. I'm not gonna hurt you. I've scared those Grimers away so don't worry." Melford comforted as he reached out his arm towards Dratini.

Surprisingly, Dratini seemed to trust Melford and quickly put up a happy face. The Dratini quickly climbed up towards Melford's arm. "See, no need to be scared." Melford said.

As soon as he said that, the 4 Grimers who Melford attacked a while ago came back for revenge. "Oh no. The Grimers are back. Get ready Charmander." Melford said while wrapped his arms around Dratini to protect it. "Charmander, use ember." By now, the Grimers seem to know what was happening and managed to dodge the ember.

"Your Charmander is weak, man. It also looks like your Charmander doesn't know how to aim properly." Said someone.

"Huh?" Melford wondered, "Who're you, come out where you're hiding." Melford shouted.

"Okay okay. No need to shout, man." The owner of the voice said. He then came out of the bushes and he showed his face to Melford. "I see you managed to get the Dratini. But not for long, I'll take that Dratini away from you kid."

"What?!" Melford shouted. "You mean Dratini is your target?"

"You got that right kid. I've been trying to steal that Dratini for 2 days now." Said the man who seemed to be in his 30's. "Grimer, use Sludge."

All of the Grimers used Sludge at the exact same time. "Oh no," Melford shouted in panic, "Charmander can't handle 4 enemies at once. Run!"

Melford, who was carrying Dratini, ran ahead with Charmander following behind.

"Don't run you brat. I'll get that Dratini from you anyway. Grimers, go get that brat. Use your Disable." All the Grimers had their eyes glowing. With the Grimers using Disable, Melford and Charmander were stopped in their tracks. "How you like that kid?"

"Tch. This is bad." Melford said. "Charmander use Ember again." Charmander once again used Ember against the Grimers. But with Charmander weakened, the ember barely left a burn mark on the Grimers.

"Haha. A pathetic Charmander who can only use Ember won't be able to defeat my Grimers." The disgusting man insulted.

"Don't make fun of my Charmander anymore, you poacher. Charmander, I know you can do it. Please hang in there." Melford pleaded.

"C'mon kid. Just give that Dratini to me and I promise to let you run away." Said the man.

"Never!" Melford shouted. He then looked at Charmander who now didn't have the strength to use Mmber. Charmander's head hung low feeling revolted. "Don't give up now Charmander." Melford said as Charmander looked at him. "I know you can beat these guys anyday. Just try and I know you can do it." Melford said. Charmander then grew red and its flame grew redder and bigger. Then Charmander raised his head and unleashed a stream of red hot flame from its mouth which fried the Grimers. Since the Grimers have been fried, they lost concentration and released the Disable attack. "Cool Charmander. You learned Flamethrower. Now we have another firepower for our arsenal. Use flamethrower again." Charmander then again used flamethrower on the Grimers.

After the Flamethrower died down, Melford noticed that there were only two fainted Grimers. "Where's the other two?" Melford asked to no one.

"Never underestimate my Grimers. They've been with me ever since I poached my first Pokemon." The man said.

"Damn. You poacher." melford shouted.

A Grimer came out of the bushes and managed to tackle the surprised Charmander. Since Charmander already used a lot of energy, he already fainted from that surprised attack. The Grimer then proceeded to tackle Melford. While Melford was ready to be hit anytime, he noticed that the ears of Dratini whom he was carrying suddenly turned green. Dratini then jumped from Melford's grasp and unleashed a green fury stream of energy. Melford then wondered a bit, "Hey, that's Dragon Rage."

With a fatal hit from Dratini's Dragon Rage, the Grimer fainted on the spot. But before Melford could rejoice, he noticed a bush shaking behind him and the last Grimer came out trying to use Tackle on Melford.

"Haha. Now you're dead. Dratini is too far to protect you and Charmander has fainted. You will be forced to receive a devastating Tackle from Grimer." Said the poacher.

Dratini saw what was happening. He knew that a Pokemon's Tackle will be devastating against a mere human being. With a shrill, Dratini disappeared from where it stood and suddenly appeared in front of Melford.

"Wha?!" Melford asked in shocked. And instead of Dratini listening to him, Dratini quickly leaped forward and delivered a massive tackle against the off-guarded Grimer. "What speed. Gotta check this out." Melford said as he opened his Pokedex.

"Extremespeed. A very fast and powerful attack. It uses very fast speed and massive power to deliver a devastating blow against an unsespecting enemy. Since this attack uses incredible speed and power, a Pokemon must be trained in stamina in order to use this move repetitively and successfully." Said the Pokedex.

"Extremespeed Dratini? Where have I heard of it? Hm. I just can't remember. Well anyway, all's well that ends well. Oh no." Melford said in shock as he saw Dratini panting hard. "Man, even though you have a powerful Dragon Rage and Extremespeed, you musn't overexert yourself, you're still a small Pokemon. But I must say, you're pretty incredible Dratini." Melford said in praise. "Dra dra tini." Dratini replied while smiling.

Melford then turned towards the poacher, "Hey, what're you gonna do now? All of your Grimers are already fainted. And a while ago, while Dratini was busy attacking you guys, I gave my Charmander a potion. Just look at it, my Charmander is already back on its feet, ready to attack you when I command to." Melford said. And true to his words, Charmander is indeed standing right now, ready to attack whenever Melford says so.

The poacher, knowing that the odds were against him, decided to run away. While he was close to escaping in the woods, 4 Growlithes came out of the bushes and surrounded him. "What? What the heck are you doing you pathetic Growlithes? Get outta my way you mutts." The poacher said as he tried to ran away, which only caused one of the Growlithes to Tackle him and pin him down on the ground.

"You ought to respect my Growlithes you know." Said a familiar female voice. "I've been hunting you down for 2 days now, you poacher. And to think you'll just meet your demise against a kid." Said the woman once again as she decided to reveal herself.

Melford gasped as he saw the woman, "Officer Jenny." The woman now identified as officer Jenny whistled hard. And in a matter of seconds, a dozen of policemen appeared. One of them put handcuffs on the poacher.

Officer Jenny then walked towards Melford, "Hello there young man. I, on behalf of the Pewter City Police, thank you for arresting this poacher. We've been hunting him down for 2 days already but he always managed to slip away. Can I ask for your name?"

"Melford Anderson, mam. And it was nothing Officer Jenny. I'm glad the poacher will already be sentenced to jail" Melford replied humblingly.

"Dra dra tini." The Dratini said in affection as it rubbed Melford's leg. Melford saw it and picked it up.

"Hm." Officer Jenny hummed as she held her chin. "It looks like Dratini wants to go with your journey young man."

"Wha?" melford asked as he heard what Officer Jenny said.

"You see, Dratini rarely trusts human at all. But if you do manage to earn a Dratini's respect and love, it will follow you no matter what. As for my opinion, I think this Dratini will be better off with you than being alone in this forest. Who knows when another poacher might be after it? At least with you, you can protect it." Officer Jenny said.

"You mean this Dratini is all alone in this forest? That no other Dratini lives here other than this one?" Melford asked.

"Yes. I think it got lost and after a few weeks, it got attached to this forest. And since Dratini are rare, many Pokemon Trainers and poachers come here to try and catch it." Officer Jenny said.

"That's awful. They want to capture this Dratini only to brag about it being rare. No wonder Dratini grew so powerful, it constantly needs to defend itself." Melford said in pity.

"Well that's not going to happen now," Officer Jenny started, "I also think you're a great trainer Melford. I mean, your Charmander managed to battle out 4 Grimers at once. Then you also earned a wild Dratini's trust. I ask of you, please take care of that Dratini. After being all alone in this forest, I bet it was very lonely."

"Don't worry Officer Jenny," Melford said while smiling, "I promise I'll take care of this Dratini no matter what. And after I win the Pokemon Leaugue, I'll promise that I'll come back here and show you Dratini's progress."

"I trust your word for it." Officer Jenny said. "Ok then, why don't you already catch it?"

"Oh right." Melford said as he grabbed an empty Pokeball form his belt and pointed it towards Dratini. Before Melford even manage to touch Dratini with the Pokeball, Dratini leaped towards it and hit it with his nose. The Pokeball opened and Dratini went inside. Although the Pokeball shook a few times, the Pokeball settled down which means Melford has officially caught it. Melford then threw the Pokeball again to release it. When Dratini was back outside, he grabbed it and held it in his arms.

"Congratulations." Officer Jenny said.

"Melford!!" Two familiar voices shouted.

"Oh, hey guys." Melford said as he waved at Martin and Leah.

Leah was the first one to talk, "Hey, how come you never went to the exit?"

Melford then explained all of the deatails that happened to him.

Martin then said something, "So you have a Dratini now. Cool. I heard they were super rare. But, you're not the only one who caught a Pokemon, you know. I caught," Martin said as he threw a Pokeball.

"Nido nido" Said the little Pokemon in front of him.

"Cool. A Nidoran Male." Melford said.

"Hey don't forget me," Leah whined. "I also caught a Pokemon."

"Really?" Melford asked. "You did?" He said as he snickered.

"What do you mean by that snicker?" She shouted. "Anyway, come on out Vulpix."

From Leah's Pokeball came out of fox-like creatire with 6 tails.

"Well you really did." Melford said. Then he suddenly remembered something, "Um Leah? Do you have any Pokechows with you?"

Leah then pondered for a second, "Yeah. I managed to make some while I was waiting at the exit a while ago. Why?" She asked.

"Well," Melford started. "I thought I should feed Dratini. He seems tired and hungry. Can I have some?"

"Sure." Leah said as she got Pokechows from her backpack. "Here. And don't worry, I'm sure that Pokechow is tasty. I followed the book Robert gave us so that Pokechow should be quite tasty and nutritious." She said as she handed the Pokechows to Melford.

Melford knelt and brought Dratini down. "Here Dratini, try some." He said as he offered the Pokechows Leah gave her. Dratini stared at the Pokechows for a moment and decided to dig in. Dratini chewed for a moment and smiled. "Dratini" it said. "Cool. Dratini liked you Pokechow Leah." Melford said.

"See? I'm quite the cook, eh?" Leah said.

"Well speaking of food, I'm quite hungry already you know." Martin said as his stomach growled. "It's already 1:45 PM. It's time for lunch."

Officer Jenny overheard their conversation and decided to make an offer, "Well kids. Since Melford helped us track down and capture that poacher, I'll give you guys a ride towards Pewter City. It'll only take 10 minutes. I'll even take you guys directly at the Pokemon Center."

"Really Officer?" Said Melford and Martin at the same time.

"Yup. Come on, here's my motorcycle. Hop on and I'll take you there." She said.

Since the trio were practically starving, the trio decided to hop in, but not before they recalled their Pokemon back at their Pokeballs.

"Ok kids. Hang on tight." Officer Jenny said as she stepped on the gas. Their trip didn't last long. As Officer Jenny said, they arrived in front of the Pokemon Center in 10 minutes.

"Thank you Officer Jenny." Said the trio as they thanked the Officer.

"It was nothing. Farewell." Officer Jenny said as she stepped on the gas again and zoomed away.

The three of them then entered the Pokemon Center. As they entered, they were greeted by Nurse Joy. And being respectful, the trio also greeted her. "Um Nurse Joy, can you please heal all of my Pokemon?" Melford asked followed by a "Me too." from Leah and Martin.

"Sure." Nurse Joy said as she took custody of their Pokemon.

"Well guys. Let's go to the Cafeteria and eat. I'm already starving." Melford said in which the other two agreed.

Their meal were consisted of a typical teenager meal, burgers and sodas. While Leah's meal was just plain ol' Salad. Leah noticed that Melford and Martin were practically inhaling their burgers, "Hey guys. Take it easy. There's no rush." Melford and Martin heard her but decided to ignore her, both boys were hungry and just can't help it.

"Boys." Leah sighed as she ate her Salad 'normally'.

After their meal, both boys were stuffed and decided to just sit there for a moment. "Hey guys," Leah said. "I'll just go to the Pokechow Section and make some Pokechows for our Pokemon, okay? I'll meet with you guys later."

Melford and Martin then decided to talk about their upcoming Gym Battle, "Hey Martin? How's the battling done in Pewter Gym? One versus one or two versus two?" Melford asked.

"I don't know. I guess it depends on the Gym Leader's preferences. But anyway, I know I can win because a Water-Type is by my side." Martin said.

"If it's one on one I can manage, since I have a Dragon-Type on my arsenal." Melford said. "But if it's two on two, I don't know, I guess I'll use Charmander, too."

Martin then thought something, "Yeah. Charmander does know Metal Claw. And Dratini will be great because it knows Dragon Rage. Well, there's nothing we can do now. Let's just wait and see what Pokemon the Gym-Leader uses. Speaking of which, why don't we get our Pokemon already?"

"Well we must wait for Leah." melford said.

As soon as he said that, "Hey guys." Leah shouted. "I manage to make enough Pokechow that'll last us for at least a week."

"Cool." Martin said. "Then let's get our Pokemon already. I'm eager to challenge the Gym-Leader."

The others quickly agreed and they retrieved their Pokemon from Nurse Joy. Fortunately, none of their Pokemon seem heavily injured so all were fully healed in just short time. The trio then exited the Pokemon Center. And since the Pewter Gym is fairly close to the Pokemon Center, in just short moments they reached the entrance.

Melford decided to open the door and quickly saw a Rock-Field in front of them.

"Who goes there?" Said a man.

Martin decided to speak first. "I'm Martin. I challenge the Gym Leader for a battle."

Melford also spoke up, "I'm Melford. I also challenge the Gym Leader after Martin."

"Very well," He said as the lights brightened, "I'm Flint. I am a rock-type Gym Leader. Will the first challenger step up the field."

With that said, Martin went into his side of the field. And with Melford, he seemed to be thinking something, 'Flint huh? I thought I'll battle Brock but, whatever.'

"Ok then. I'll go first." Flint said, "I choose you, Graveler."

"Perfect," Martin said, "Come on out, Squirtle." he said as Squirtle came out in the field.

The referee then spoke up, "This will be a one on one match. No time limit. Start."

"Squirtle use water gun." Martin spoke up. Squirtle then inhaled for a short moment and quickly unleashed a stream of water from his mouth.

"How predictable. Graveler dodge and use Rollout." Flint ordered. Graveler then jumped out of the way and charged up its rollout. Graveler curled into a ball and started rolling towards Squirtle. Since Graveler has great defense, rolling on a rock-field was nothing.

"Squirtle stop your attack and use Withdraw." Martin commanded. Squirtle immediately stopped using water gun and instead, Squirtle withdrew to its shell, protecting itself from any harm.

But a Withdraw is not enough to stop Graveler from rolling. Graveler rolled straight into Squirtle. Squirtle, who has a disadvantage when it comes to size, was thrown into the air and landed on the ground with impact. "Squirtle, get out of your shell." Squirtle did what it was told to and Squirtle just stood there.

"I don't know what you're planning but I'll make sure you lose on my next attack." Flint said. "Use rollout once again Graveler." Graveler curled into a ball once again and headed straight for Squirtle.

Martin then smirked, 'This is going as planned.' He thought. "Squirtle just stand there and wait for my signal." Squirtle just stood there not knowing what Martin is planning. Graveler then rolled nearer and nearer towards Squirtle. And when Graveler was only 5 feet away from Squirtle, "Squirtle use Bubble." Squirtle obeyed and used Bubble on Graveler. And with Graveler being close to the Bubble attack, it lost its speed and got hit head-on. "Now Squirtle, finish it off with a powerful water gun." Squirtle inhaled once again and released a stream of water which hit Graveler dead on. The water pressure was too great for Graveler too handle and it fainted.

The referee raised his green flag, "The winner of this match is Martin."

"Yes." Martin shouted.

"very great tactic kid," Flint praised, "You used the Bubble attack to defend rather than attack. Very good indeed. You knew that a Graveler is naturally slow, and with Bubble being a move that lowers speed, my Graveler lost speed and balance and you hit my Graveler with a full water gun. I'm impressed."

"Hehe." Martin smiled.

Flint then looked at Melford, "Well kid, it's your turn already. Ready to go?"

"Ready whenever you are." Melford said.

The referee once again spoke, "Second match. Melford versus Flint. A one on one battle."

'Great, a one on one.' Melford thought.

"As Gym Leader, I'll go first." Flint said, "I choose you, Rhyhorn." Out came a grayish Pokemon with a big and bulky body.

Melford then took out his Pokedex wanting to know more about Rhyhorn. "Rhyhorn, the horn Pokemon. Rhyhorn has a very powerful horn. A Rhyhorn has great strength that it can easily toss a trailer."

"Now that's power. But I must also win this, I choose you, Dratini." Melford said as he threw his Pokeball and out came his trusty Dratini.

"Oh, a Dratini? Impressive." Flint said, "But I must still battle you. Go Rhyhorn, use fury attack."

Rhyhorn quickly started running towards Dratini.

"Oh no you don't. Dodge that fury attack Dratini." Dratini followed Melford's orders and quickly leaped towards the side.

"I'm not done yet, maneuver quickly Rhyhorn and use horn attack." Rhyhorn quickly shifted directions which caused Dratini to be surprised and be hit full force. Dratini, after being hit, was quickly thrown against the wall.

"Oh no Dratini." Melford shouted. Dratini heard Melford's voice and quickly got up. Although battered, it can still battle. "Ok then, Dratini we will use speed to battle power. Just listen to me and I'm sure you'll never be hit by that Rhyhorn again." Melford said.

"Big words kid." Flint said. "Rhyhorn charge towards that Dratini and use horn attack again."

Rhyhorn once again ran towards Dratini ready to deliver another massive blow against the Dragon-type.

"I'm sorry but we'll defeat you." Melford said. "Dratini, use Dragon Rage." Dratini quickly obeyed and unleashed a green stream of energy that managed to hit Rhyhorn and sent it flying.

"Oh no Rhyhorn. C'mon you can do it, charge towards that Dratini again." Flint said.

"No you don't. Dratini use Agility to get behind Rhyhorn and use Dragon Rage to send it flying once again." Melford ordered. And as quick as Dratini can be, Dratini dissappeared from where it stood and quickly reappeared behind Rhyhorn. And since Rhyhorn was completely oblivious to Dratini's whereabouts it was hit by Dratini's Dragon Rage at close range which caused Rhyhorn to be sent flying.

"It's time to finish this, use Slam Dratini." Melford ordered. Dratini jumped towards Rhyhorn, and because Rhyhorn can't dodge mid-air, Dratini was able to aim carefully and then slammed its tail against Rhyhorn which cause Rhyhorn to be sent pummeling against the rocky field.

After going through all those attacks, Rhyhorn eventually fainted.

The referee once again raised the green flag, "Rhyhorn is unable to battle. This match goes to Melford."

"Yay!" Melford shouted as he went towards Dratini, who in turn, leaped towards him. "That was a great battle Dratini. I'm proud of you." Melford said. Martin and Leah then joined him.

Flint then recalled his Pokemon back to its Pokeball and walked towards Melford and the gang. He got something out of his pockets and gave them to Melford and Martin. "Here kids. You guys received these Boulder Badges."

"Yes." Melford and Martin both shouted.

"Well kids. It seems like the Boulder Badge is your first badge. Meaning that you should go to Cerulean City next. The Gym there is an expert on Water-types so be careful. Just go to the base of Mt. Moon and you'll see a Pokemon Center there. Next to the Pokemon Center is a cable car that can take you to Cerulean City in about 1 hour." Said Flint. "Once again congratulations."

"Ok guys. Since the two of you have already won your badges. Let's go straight to Cerulean City. I wanna ride at the cable car as soon as possible." Leah said.

"That's not possible kid." Flint said. "The next trip of the cable car would be tomorrow at 9 AM. So I think you just stay at the Pokemon Center for today and plan you journey."

"Oh bummer." Leah said. "Well anyway, why don't we get your Dratini and Squirtle healed first at the Pokemon Center."

"Sure. Let's go." Melford said. Then he turned towards Flint. "Thanks for the battle sir."

"That's nothing kid." Flint said.

With that said, the trio bid farewell to Flint and decided to go back to the Pokemon Center. As planned, Melford and Martin gave Dratini and Squirtle to Nurse Joy for treatment.

After that, Martin started a conversation, "Well. It's only 4 PM, what're we gonna do?"

"I don't know. But it sure is boring." Melford said.

"Well," Leah said, "I'll go at the Pokemart and buy supplies that we need. I'll be back in about one and a half hour." After that, she headed towards the Pokemart.

"Hey Martin?" Melford called, "Why is there a cable car near Mt. Moon?"

"Well," Martin started, "Over the past year, Mt. Moon became extremely dangerous. Some say that humongous amounts of Rock-types and Ground-types inhabit the cave, which is why Pewter City banned anyone from entering the cave to prevent any accidents."

"Oh I see. Thanks." MElford said.

"Well, there's no sense in just standing here," Martin said, "I'll just sleep at the room I booked earlier." Martin then went upstairs to their room and slept.

"How about me?" Melford wondered. "What should I do?"

"Hey you there." Someone called.

Melford looked around and saw a boy about his age, "Me?" Melford asked?

"Yup. The boy said. "Care to have a battle with me?"

Melford's face quicly lightened up, "Sure. Let's go outside."

Both boys then went outside and each took different sides of their battlefield.

"One on one, is that okay with you?" The boy asked.

"Well sure." Melford agreed.

"Ok then, come on out Zubat." Said the boy as he threw a Pokeball. Out then came a bat pokemon which flew around the field.

"Hm. I haven't battled with this yet but now's a good time as any. Pidgey, I choose you." Melford said as he threw his Pokeball and let Pidgey battle.

"Ok then, Zubat use Bite." The boy ordered. Zubat quickly agreed and flew straight towards Pidgey with its mouth wide open, ready to bite at Pidgey.

"Pidgey use Agility and get to its side then unleash a Gust." Pidgey agreed and flew quickly at the side of Zubat and used a Gust which manage to stop Zubat in its track and lose balance.

"You can't defeat Zubat that easy. Zubat fly straight up and use Leech Life." Zubat quickly flew towards Pidgey at great speed. Pidgey was caught off-guard so Zubat managed to dig its fang against Pidgey's left wing.

"Oh no." Melford shouted, "Pidgey use your right wing to deliver a Wing Attack against Zubat." Pidgey did what its told to and Zubat got smacked in the face which caused Zubat to release it grip.

"Time to finish this," Melford said, "Pidgey use your Twister." Pidgey shrilled and both of its wing glowed for a moment. And then Pidgey unleashed a vortex of wind against Zubat. And since that vortex of wind had trapped Zubat, Zubat was constantly receiving damage. After the Twister had died out, Zubat fell to the ground fainted.

"It seems I won." Melford said.

"Yeah." The other boy agreed. "You're very strong. Thanks for the battle. Zubat return." Said the boy as he ran away.

"I think he didn't accept that lose heartily. Well anyway, Pidgey nice battle. Have a good rest." Melford shouted as he recalled his Pidgey back to its ball. Melford entered the Pokemon Center again and gave Nurse Joy his injured Pidgey. After some time, Martin had awoken and met up with Melford.

"Where's Leah?" Martin asked.

"I don't know. But she should be here by now, it's already 6:30." Melford replied.

Soon enough, Leah entered the Pokemon Center. "Whew, I'm bushed." Leah said while carrying a half dozen of plastic bags.

"Well you awfully bought too many." Melford said. He then walked towards Leah and took all of the plastic bags she was carrying and he managed to carry it with ease. "I'll take this to our room and you two go order at the Cafeteria. I'll go as soon as I take care of these."

As Melford said, Leah and Martin went towards the Cafeteria and ordered a meal. Soon Melford arrived and sat with them. Melford and Martin were eating 'normally' now because they weren't as hungry as a while ago. After they finished eating their dinner, the trio went to their room and lied at their respective beds.

"Hey guys," Martin said. "Let's sleep early today so we can wake up early and reach the cable car tomorrow."

The other two agreed and decided to sleep peacefully.

* * *

Well how is it. I tried my best with battle scenes but I guess I'm not too good at it. But I'll try to improve.

Oh and about my bad grammar (thanks to Silawen for pointing it out) I've proof-read this chapter, so hopefully there won't be as many errors as my past chapters. I also learned one thing from it, I'll never rush my stories so I can check them carefully.

And for those Pokeshippers out there, don't worry because I've not forgotten about my fic yet. I'll create a one-shot about Pokeshipping which will be up in about 1-2 weeks. Thanks again.


	6. Learn to Battle

Author's Note: Chapter 6 is up already guys. Hope you enjoy it.

* * *

Chapter 6: Learn to battle

The sun shone brightly as partial sunlight entered through the windows in Melford, Leah, and Martin's room. The sunlight struck Martin's face which caused him to wake up. He got up and stretched his arms as he looked at the clock. "6:45 huh? Hm. Better wake them up."

Martin then got out of bed and he shook Melford to wake him up. "Hey wake up. We're gonna be late you know." Martin said as Melford finally opened his eyes. "Good. Now get up and get ready."

After Martin had woken Melford up, he proceeded to wake up Leah which didn't take long enough. After 10 minutes of getting ready. As usual, they went to the Pokechow section and fed their Pokemon while they also had breakfast at the Cafeteria.

After a meal that lasted for 20 minutes, they exited the Pokemon Center and headed towards the base of Mt. Moon.

"I wonder how high that cable car goes. I'm really psyched to ride it. I just sure hope it doesn't cost much." Leah said while walking with her two companions.

"Well," Melford started, "We wouldn't know until we reach it right?" Martin also added, "Yeah. Well I say let's just hurry up and head towards the Cerulean Gym so I can earn my second badge."

Melford then began to get worried, "Tch. The Cerulean Gym is a Water-type Gym right?" Melford asked in which Martin agreed to. "This looks bad. Charmander is weak against Water-types. And most Water-types know Ice Beam which is a threat to my Pidgey and Dratini. It looks like I'm in hot water again."

"Lucky for me," Martin started, "Even though I don't use my Spearow, my Squirtle and Nidoran will just do fine. But I'm also worried, Water-types have great variety. The Gym-Leader may have a Starmie which can crush my Nidoran-M. Or maybe a Chinchou, or worse Lanturn. I guess I'll just hope for the best."

The conversation of the two trainers were cut short when Leah screamed and squealed. At first, Melford and Martin, thought that something might be wrong but they saw that Leah was only hugging a wild Jigglypuff she saw. Melford and Martin both sweatdropped at the scene.

"You're so cute Jigglypuff." Leah said as she got a Pokeball. "Wanna come with our journey?"

Melford and Martin once again sweatdropped, "Um Leah." Melford started. "A Pokemon won't come with you if you just persuaded it. You need to battle a Pokemon to naturally capture it. That's what trainers do, right?"

Leah ignored Melford's comments and she just looked at Jigglypuff. Jigglypuff smiled at she touched the Pokeball which opened up and managed to capture her. "Yippee, I caught a Jigglypuff."

At this, Melford and Martin fell anime-style. "How did that happen?" Martin asked in which Melford replied. "I don't know. But it seems Jigglypuff joined her willingly. It's weird."

"What do you mean weird?" Leah whimpered. "At least I caught a Pokemon. I don't like brutal stuff in which you need to injure a Pokemon to catch it. I prefer to capture Pokemon without it getting hurt."

"Then how are you going to win a battle without hurting the opponent's Pokemon." Martin asked.

"Simple. I'll find a way to defeat the opponen't Pokemon without hurting it." Leah said.

Melford then whispered to Martin, "Is that possible?" Martin didn't know what to say but he replied anyway, "I'm not sure myself. I mean, we, as Pokemon trainers and Gym-Battlers, we need to damage the opposite side to win you know. It's inevitable."

"Oh c'mon guys. Instead of whispering there, let's just head out to the Mt. Moon so we can ride on the cable car. I'm exited you know. It's already 8:30, another 30 minutes and the cable car will already be available. I want to be the first person to step inside a cable car today." Leah said.

"Oh alright." Melford said.

After a good 15 minutes of walking, they finally reached the base of Mt. Moon. And true to Flint's words, there really is a cable car beside the Pokemon Center.

Leah ran as fast as possible and she was already in front of the building which operates the cable. Leah turned around and shouted at Melford and Martin who were walking slowly, "Hurry up guys. It's already 8:47, the cable car will be open soon. Hurry up."

As the trio were already in front of the main door of the building, Leah reached out her hand to open the door knob. But before she could reach for it, the door opened and a lady about in her twenties came out of the building.

The lady was quite surprised to see three customers at such early time. "Um hello." the lady said. "I'm a clerk in this building, I'm Melissa. May I ask why you're here?"

"Oh hello." Leah said. "Me and my friends would like to go to Cerulean City and we were informed we could ride the cable car towards Cerulean City. By the way, I'm Leah. And these two are Melford and Martin."

"Hello Leah. Well it's true that this cable car brings trainers to Cerulean City, but it won't open till 9:00 AM." Said the lady now identified as Melissa.

"It's alright. We just want to be the first ones to ride this cable car today." Leah said as she smiled. Then she heard Martin's grumbles, "You're the only one who wants to ride in the cable car right away."

"What did you say?" Leah asked in a very dangerous tone to Martin. And to top it all, she has this evil smirk and incredible dangerously red aura.

Martin sensed danger so he quickly made up an excuse, "Just kidding. I'm really excited to ride the cable car. Really. Ahehe."

"Good to know." Leah said as she smiled sweetly once again.

Melissa noticed all of this and smiled. "Hey anyway, the fee you need to pay to ride in the cable car is absolutely high. But there's a way you can ride the cable car for free."

The trio heard this and asked what the condition was, "Well I told you guys a while ago that I'm a clerk in this building. I can give you guys free passes so you can ride the cable car for free. But in turn, you must be able to defeat me in a Pokemon Battle."

"Cool." Melford and Martin immediately said, "I'll battle you." Both said at the same time. At this, both males looked at each other and they were arguing as to who gets to battle Melissa.

Then Melissa spoke up, "Well. I would like to have a battle against Leah." At this, the trio gasped. Melford and Martin were worried because Leah never had an actual battle. And she also disliked violence. Even Leah was scared.

"Well?" Melissa asked. "If Leah wins against me, you three will have free passes. Are you going to let that past you?"

Leah then wondered for a bit, it was true that she didn't have any battle experiences but she also thought that she musn't rely on Melford and Martin forever. She then spoke up, "I accept."

Melford and Martin then gasped, "But Leah, I thought you hate battling? And you also don't have any battle experiences."

"Guys," Leah started, "We're friends. Please trust me."

Melford and Martin looked at each other and nodded, "Fine, we trust you. And not only that, we'll support you in any way we can. That's what we promised." Melford said. Unknown to them though, Melissa smiled at the trio.

"Ok then," Melissa started, "I choose you, Sandshrew." She threw a Pokeball which released a Sandshrew.

Leah then thought for a bit, _'Sandshrew, a ground type. Pikachu is out and so is Vulpix. If it knows any Rock-type moves, Butterfree will be in harm. And my Jigglypuff is just newly captured. Which leaves me with...'_ Leah got a Pokeball from her Pokebelt and threw it in the air. "Come on out, Bulbasaur." Bulbasaur then materialized in front of her.

"Let's begin," Melissa said, "Sandshrew, use Fury Swipes." Sandshrew ran towards Bulbasaur with its claw stretched out.

"Bulbasaur, watch Sandshrew's attacks and dodge it carefully." Leah commanded. Bulbasaur waited for Sandshrew to make a move. And soon enough, Sandshrew began clawing at Bulbasaur. But Bulbasaur was able to analyze every detail of Sandshrew's attack pattern and managed to dodge each and every attack Sandshrew dishes out.

"Leah," Martin shouted, "You can't win a battle just by dodging. You need to attack."

"You can't keep dodging forever." Melissa said. "Sandshrew use Cut." With a quick slash of its claw, Bulbasaur was caught off-guard and was hit directly.

"Oh no Bulbasaur." Leah shouted.

"Leah, you can't evade forever." Melissa shouted, "You can't win any battles if you don't harm the enemy. It's the only way. In a battle, a Pokemon getting hurt is inevitable. Be strong. Never let the opposing trainer gain advantage over you."

Leah then went into a state of thinking. She was thinking about what Melissa said. She also thought about what Martin said earlier. Then something struck her mentally.

"You're right Melissa." Leah said. "I will not let the opponent gain advantage over me." Leah mentioned to which Melissa smirked at. "But I'll continue in my way of battling, I'll prove to you I can win with my way of battling. Bulbasaur, get up and use Synthesis."

Bulbasaur stood up on its legs and its bulb started to glow green. In a matter of seconds, Bulbasaur was fully healed.

"You don't learn do you?" Melissa shouted. "Sandshrew use Fury Swipes." Sandshrew once again ran towards Bulbasaur ready to claw it again.

Martin then shouted again. "Leah, attack it head-on."

"Bulbasaur, just keep on dodging." Leah said in which Martin and Melford face-faulted. Bulbasaur followed the orders of her master and she just dodged all of the Fury Swipes Sandshrew dished out.

Leah noticed that Sandshrew is getting slower after every attack it dishes out. "Bulbasaur use Sweet Scent." Bulbasaur unleashed some powder from its bulb and Sandshrew managed to smell it and Sandshrew got confused as to where the pleasant smell came from. "Let's finish this Bulbasaur, use your Sleep Powder." Bulbasaur then released blue powder from its bulb that hit Sandshrew. The moment Sandshrew inhaled a small amount of powder, it immediately got drowsy and fell asleep.

"That's it. It looks like I win." Leah said.

"What do you mean you won?" Melissa asked. "My Sandshrew is just asleep, it'll wake up sooner or later.

Leah then decided to explain things to her, "It seems you don't get it. I commanded Bulbasaur to dodge every attack just to tire Sandshrew out. I then noticed that after you hit my Bulbasaur with Cut, all the other attacks that came after it got slower and slower, indicating that Sandshrew was already at its limits. When I noticed that, I told Bulbasaur to use Sweet Scent to lighten up Sandshrew's mood."

"What? Why would you lighten up the opponent's mood?" Melissa asked confusingly.

"Still don't get it?" Leah asked. "As I said a while ago, the Sweet Scent was used to lighten Sandshrew's mood. Then after that, I used Sleep Powder to immobilize Sandshrew. And since Sandshrew was already very tired, and its mood was lightened up, Sandshrew was directly affected by the Sleep Powder. And Sandshrew won't be waking up anytime soon, it's very tired from our battle so it may sleep overnight." As soon as Leah said that, Melford, Martin, and Melissa stared at her with awe.

"See? At least I finished the battle without hurting Sandshrew. And don't worry about Bulbasaur. The Synthesis fully healed her. Isn't that right Bulbasaur?" Leah asked in which Bulbasaur agreed to. "Ok then, take a rest in your Pokeball."

"I'm impressed." Melissa said. "As promised, here are the passes." She said as she got three passes from her pockets. "Well, I must go now. Just head inside the building and present the cards to the counter and you'll get in for free. Hurry up or you guys won't be the first to ride the cable car."

"Oh right." Leah said. "Thanks for the passes again."

"Sure, don't mention it." Melissa said. As soon as she said that, Leah entered the building while dragging Martin and Melford.

When the trio was already inside the building, Melissa smiled and she glowed pure white. After a matter of seconds, she changed her form and she turned out to be the white-cloaked human figure. "I never thought I'd be outsmarted by a mere human being. Nevertheless, I'm impressed. She really kept her word on winning without damaging Sandshrew. Oh well, she might be in trouble when it comes to a real battle, but I doubt Melford and Martin would leave her behind. Leah is already starting to mature on her own. Wish I could say the same for her two companions. But there's still some time left, I just hope they'll be prepared when 'that time' comes. I also learned one lesson for today, I'll never change into a woman again. It's very uncomfortable." After that, the white-cloaked human figure dispersed into particles once again.

After that scene, a woman who has the exact same feature as to what the white-cloaked man transformed to, came out of the Pokemon Center yawning. "Dang, I'm late for work again. Well, it happens once in a while."

Back with the trio, "Here're passes sir." Leah said as she handed their passes towards the man guarding the cable car.

"Ok." the man said, "You're clear. You may enter the cable car. The trip to Cerulean City will take about 1 hour so just enjoy the environment while you're up there."

"Um sir, I have a question." Leah said, "Are we the first to ride this cable car today?"

"Yup." the man said, "Our first customers of the day."

At this, Leah brightened up and went inside the cable car with Melford and Martin. The man saw this and smiled, "Well kids will always be kids."

At the time that the cable car started moving, the door opened and came in the lady a while ago, "Hey Melissa." the man greeted. "You're late."

"Yup. Sorry about that John." Said the woman now REALLY identified as Melissa.

"Well it's okay." Said the man now identified as John. "We only had our first customer anyway. You know, I'm wondering about something, how did those kids got those passes anyway? Didn't we just started shipping the passes at 3:00 AM? I know for sure that the stores won't sell the passes until next week."

"They must be kids of the store owners, or maybe kids of a wealthy person." Melissa said as she sat on the bench sipping her coffee.

* * *

Back with the trio...

"He's out cold." Melford said as he finished examining Martin who was apparently having the time of his life...sleeping.

Leah crossed her arms and grumbled, "He really doesn't have any sense for Mother Nature's gifts, does he?" Leah asked as she stared out of the cable car. Luckily for them, the cable car was transparent, as if it was made of glass. Even the 'floor' of the cable was transparent, meaning you can really see the environment from it.

"Well it seemed awkward though. He was the one who woke us up a while ago but now he's totally asleep." Melford said as he too, stared outside admiring the view. He then turned his head and noticed Leah's hands, "Hey Leah?! It's boggling my mind for a moment now but how come you never remove those fingerless gloves of yours? You wear them while cooking and even while sleeping, how come?"

"Huh? Oh these?" Leah said as she raised her hands showing her pink fingerless gloves, "Well you can say that this is more of my style."

Melford seemed to be satisfied with Leah's answer so he once again, stared at the scenery that enveloped them. The trip didn't seem to be boring for him at all, in fact Melford was very enthusiastic since he was able to see flying-type Pokemon clearly. He spotted several Fearows and Butterfrees flying. He even saw a flock of Staraptors that were probably migrating.

Melford then decided to pop out a question out of nowhere, "Hey Leah? (Leah looked at him) How did you manage to battle like that?"

Leah quickly understood what he meant and replied, "Hm. I guess it's just my way of battling. I know for sure that in a real battle, I wouldn't stand a chance against my opponents. But I still try to formulate strategies while I'm on the battlefield. And hey, don't even think of using my battle styles in a Pokemon Gym Match. A Gym Leader's Pokemon is way tougher than your average trainer. I know for that you guys, it is inevitable to faint an opponent's Pokemon without damaging it, and I don't blame you guys for it. It's just, I have my own unique style of battling. Everybody has, but it may take some time though for other trainers to find theirs'."

Melford thought through all of the words Leah said. And soon enough, he was already thinking of techniques he could use against Water-types that Cerulean Gym have. As Melford was still in the state of thinking, _'Hm. I know for sure that in the anime, I'll get to battle Misty since she's in charge of the Gym now. But I doubt it. Many things have changed between the games and anime compared to the real deal. There weren't even cable cars in Kanto, yet alone two Viridian Forests. I guess I'll just wait and see.'_

After a few moments, Martin had woken up. "Oh hey guys." Martin greeted.

"Don't 'Oh hey guys' us Martin." Leah scolded. "How come you slept on us? Don't you even wanna admire Mother Nature's work?"

"Yeah I did." Martin said. "But admiring Mother Nature's work got me into a trance. And the next thing I knew, I already fell asleep."

Melford and Leah sweatdropped at what Martin said but decided to just ignore him. "Hey," Leah called, "There's Cerulean City. And there's where we'll land." Leah said as she pointed towards the enthralling city of Cerulean.

"Cool. So that's the place where I'm gonna earn my second badge." Melford said as he stared at the wonderful and enthralling city of Cerulean.

"For sure my victory there will be a breeze." Martin said as he too, looked at Cerulean City.

After about 10 minutes, their cable car trip has come to an end. They exited the station and thanks to their passes, they avoided the payment that they're due to.

"C'mon guys. Let's go to the Pokemon Gym at once." Melford said enthusiastically.

"Alright alright." Leah sighed. "Calm down will ya?"

As they reached the Cerulean Gym, the trio noticed a sign posted at the gym's main entrance. "Hm." Martin wondered. "It says that this Gym will open at 3 PM due to renovations."

"WHAT?!" Melford shouted. "3 PM? But that's gonna take a long time."

"I said calm down!" Leah shouted as she pounded Melford's head but good. "Can't you just wait for 5 hours? It's not that long."

Martin can't help but snicker at the scene, "I agree. Besides, it will give you some time to formulate strategies against the Gym Leader's Pokemon. You're at a disadvantage, remember?"

At this, Melford just grumbled and sulked, "I can't wait for 3 PM."

"Well," Leah started, "Since there's nothing left to do here, why don't we just head to the Pokemon Center?" Leah suggested to which her two male companions agreed.

As they headed toward the Pokemon Center, Martin noticed a poster posted at some buildings. Since curiosity got the best of him, he can't help but take a slight peek. "Hm? What's this? It looks like we do have something to do while we wait for the Gym to open."

Leah and Melford didn't quite understand what he said so they too, took a peek at the poster. "It says," Melford started, "'Pokemon Trainers. If you want to test your Pokemon battling skills, then come to Nugget Bridge. Battle our 3 Stationed Pokemon Trainers. And if you manage to beat them, a prize awaits you. Note: You can bring some companions/friends of yours but the maximum is three.'"

"Cool. Let's head out then to Nugget Bridge. Let's see what those Pokemon trainers are capable of." Melford said as he did air jabs to show his excitement.

"I agree." Martin said. "This would be a perfect warm-up for our Gym Battle later." He finished as he showed his excitement with Melford.

"Tch. Battles and battles all day." Leah said. "Boys." She said with a heavy sigh.

After a 10 minute walk towards Nugget Bridge, they arrived at a place where 3 battlefields stood. Near those battlefields is a desk which seems to be the place for them to register.

"Excuse me sir. Is this where we'll register for the battles?" Melford asked to the man sitting behind the desk.

"Yup." The man agreed. "So, wanna have a battle? I warn you though, these guys are strong. They managed to beat 5 trainers in a row."

"The stronger the better." Melford said. "And yes, we three would like to register."

"What do you mean three?" Leah shouted. "I ain't joining this."

"Aw c'mon Leah. It's nice to have a battle once in awhile." Melford and Martin insisted.

Since Leah couldn't back down now that they're here. She decided to make the most of it. "Oh alright. But this is the last time you drag me into this."

"Ok then." Martin said. "Sir, we would like to register." Martin said to which the man complied to.

"Ok, so who will be your first battler? The first battler will be battling Christine on a one on one match. Although she's the weakest among those three, she is still pretty powerful." The man said.

"I'll battle her." Leah suggested.

"Wha?!" Melford asked in shock. "Oh I see. Picking on the weakest huh?" Melford said to which his head got pounded. "Ow..."

"No you idiot. I'm gonna battle first so I can get over this quickly. I want to head out to the Pokemon Center as soon as possible. I still need to make some Pokechow for our Pokemon remember?" Leah said.

"Ok then. That settles it. Please go to the first battlefield." The man said.

"Hey what about us?" Martin asked. "We registered right?"

"I'm sorry sir. But we must wait for your friend to win. If she does lose this, you wouldn't be able to participate. Meaning, that even if one of you loses, that also means that your whole team is disqualified."

"What?!" Melford shouted.

"Don't worry Melford." Martin reassured him. "I'm pretty sure that even though Leah hates battling, she is very good at analyzing the opponent. Besides, we do want to see her 'Win without hurting the opponent strategy' right?"

"Ok then." The referee interupted, "The first match, Christine of Nugget Bridge versus Leah of Pallet Town. Commence."

"I choose you, Jolteon." Christina said as she threw her Pokeball and released her Jolteon for battle.

"C'mon out, Jigglypuff." Leah said as her pink ball Pokemon materialized in front of her.

"Jolteon, use Thundershock." Jolteon began charging a thundershock attack. After some charging, it unleashed small amount of lightning bolts headed towards Jigglypuff.

"Jigglypuff, use rollout to dodge it." Jiggypuff complied and she turned into a ball and began rolling to get out of the thundershock's range.

"You're not going to get away that easily, Jolteon Pin Missile." Jolteon then sharpened its already sharp skin. After a moment, it unleashed small yet many lightning-like pins from it's body.

"Jigglypuff, dodge it again." Jigglypuff, still in its ball form, rolled out of the way. "Good job Jigglypuff. Now that its weakened, use Disable." Jigglypuff returned to her normal posture. Her eyes began to glow pink and before Jolteon could react, it got stopped in its track and can't manage to move.

"Oh no Jolteon." Christina shouted in worry of her Pokemon.

"Jigglypuff, finish it with sing." Jigglypuff began singing and melody notes came out form her mouth which hit Jolteon. And Jolteon, being hit with a Jigglypuff's dreaded Sing, yawned and soon enough, just fell asleep.

"Jolteon is sleeping and can't battle. Jigglypuff wins." The referee said as he raised the green flag indicating that Leah has won the round.

"Yehey. Good job Jigglypuff." Leah said as she ran towards Jigglypuff and gave her a nice warm hug. On the other hand, Christine recalled Jolteon and walked towards Leah, "Great battle Leah. You didn't even need to command offensive attacks to beat me. You're a great trainer."

"Thanks. You're pretty good yourself." Leah acknowledged her.

"Great battle Leah." Martin said as he congratulated her.

"Yeah." Melford agreed. "It looks like your strategy worked."

"Ehem." The man in the desk replied. "The second battle will take stage. Who's gonna battle?"

"Me sir." Martin said volunteering.

"Ok then. Head towards the second battlefield and you're gonna face Jason."

Wihout wasting another second, Martin headed towards the second battlefield as his two friends watched at the sidelines. "Hey," Melford said, "I thought you were gonna head towards the Pokemon Center." He asked to Leah.

"I figured I should wait until you and Martin's battle finishes. It's gonna be rude on my side if I just walked out without cheering for you guys." Leah explained.

"The second match, Jason from Nugget Bridge versus Martin of Pallet Town, begin."

"Face the enemy, Flareon." Jason commanded.

"Flareon huh? It's gonna be way too easy if I use Squirtle, so come on out Nidoran." He said as his Poison Pokemon materialized in front of him.

"Flareon, fry that Nidoran with your Flamethrower." Flareon opened its mouth and released a stream of red hot flame headed towards Nidoran.

"Nidoran dodge it." Nidoran complied and jumped out of the way which caused the Flamethrower to miss. "Great, now use Poison Sting." Nidoran then opened its mouth and released an almost invincible Poison Sting which managed to hit Flareon. "Man, your Flareon uses plain firepower. It doesn't even have speed. Did you even train that?" Martin taunted.

"Grr. Flareon use Leer." Flareon agreed and was about to do a Leer attack but instead, just crouched and winced like it was in some sort of pain. "What's the matter Flareon?"

"Can't you see? My Nidoran's Poison Sting attack poisoned your Flareon. Didn't you know that it's better to dodge a poison attack than to confront it? Look what happened to your Flareon, it is in deep pain. Forfeit already, or else I might injure your Flareon more." Martin said as he smirked.

"Geez. Who knew that Martin could be brutal when in a Pokemon Battle?" Melford asked to no one in particular.

"Grr." Grunted Jason who seems to have losed his cool, "Flareon get up and use Fire Spin." Flareon, not having any choice, just got up and used Fire Spin against Nidoran.

"You don't get it do you? You should know by now that you don't stand a chance against me. Tch. Nidoran jump and use Double Kick to finish it off." Nidoran jumped out of Fire Spin's range and delivered a Double Kick against its opponent.

"Hm. Martin's holding back." Melford said to which Leah agreed.

"Flareon is unable to battle. The winner is Martin and Nidoran." The referee said.

Jason, not knowing what to do after being humiliated, decided to ran off.

"Hey Martin. Why did you hold back?" Melford asked as his friend went towards the sidelines.

"You noticed?" Martin asked in shock.

"Yeah." Melford said. "Not only me, Leah also noticed your strange behavior. I know for sure that when it come to battles, you don't hold back. So why now?"

"Well, you can say I pitied Flareon. In my opinion, Flareon's strong. But that good-for-nothing trainer of his seems to care about winning more rather than his own Pokemon. So I decided to go easy on Flareon but I humiliated the trainer. I want him to know his lessons." Martin said.

"Will the last trainers please enter the battlefield?" The referee asked.

"Yeah that's me alright. I'm gonna win this." Melford shouted as he leaped merrily towards the battlefield.

"Hey don't get cocky now. Remember, if you lose, we all lose. And don't even dare think about losing or you'll gonna pay." Martin warned.

"Yeah. And if you did lose, you'll be rewarded with no lunch for a week." Leah taunted.

"Man what great friends I have." Melford said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.

"The third battle will now begin. Melford of Pallet Town versus Jerome of Cerulean City. Begin." said the referee.

"I choose you, Vaporeon." Said the trainer known as Jerome.

_'A Water-Type. This may be a good chance for me to try out that strategy I made. Plus, this would be a great training for my battle later.'_ Melford thought. "Come on out, Pidgey." Melford said as his Pidgey came into view.

"Vaporeon, Aurora Beam." Jerome commanded. Vaporeon opened its mouth and unleashed a very colorful beam from its mouth headed directly towards Pidgey.

"Pidgey, dodge that attack." Pidgey then quickly flew sideards to avoid unnecessary damage. "Great job. Now use Quick Attack." Pidgey quickly dissappeared from view and reappeared behind the surprised Vaporeon to deliver a massive blow towards the unsespecting Pokemon.

"His Pidgey's fast. Melford must've trained it when we weren't watching over him." Martin said.

As Vaporeon skid a few feet away from the impact, "Use Haze to hide yourself." Quickly, Vaporeon unleashed a white mist-like smoke to hide itself.

Melford smirked at his, "I already thought of a way of dealing with this kind of strategy. Pidgey Whirlwind those smokes away." Pidgey complied and began to flap its wings rapidly causing the smoke to disperse. "It's over. Pidgey use Agility to get behind it and deliver a Twister attack." Pidgey then dissappeared once again and reappeared behind the off-guarded Vaporeon. And with one flap of its wings, a massive tornado of wings slammed into Vaporeon who flew a few feet after the impact.

The referee seeing that Vaporeon wasn't gonna get up at this moment, "The winner is Melford and Pidgey."

"We did it Pidgey." Melford said as he jumped and grabbed Pidgey and hugged it. At this, Pidgey gave a shrill of happiness and quickly glowed pure white. Melford noticed this and he placed Pidgey to the ground. After a few seconds, Pidgey's silhouette changed and it began to have bigger wings. Its size also began to grow big. After the white glow had dispersed, the crowd and Melford knew that Pidgey has evolved.

"Pid-geot-toooooo" Pidgeotto cried as it spread its wings and took flight.

"My Pidgey evolved. Yeah, now I have another ace up my sleeve." Melford shouted as he jumped up and down with excitement.

"Wow. Pidgey really evolved. Now it's a Pidgeotto." Martin said in awe.

"I guess that means Pidgey is really well-trained by Melford." Leah added. "Except now we would call it Pidgeotto instead of Pidgey." Leah added.

"Considering that a Pidgeotto is much better than a Pidgey, I think Melford has a better chance at winning in the Cerulean Gym later." Martin said.

"Ehem." The referee intervened. "Since all of the Cerulean Battlers of Nugget Bridge had been defeated, the prizes will be given to the Pallet Trainers. Pallet Trainers, please head over the main desk to retrieve your prize."

"Cool we have a prize. Wonder what it is?" Melford asked to himself as his friends joined him.

As the trio reached the main desk, the man behind it got a small briefcase and showed it towards the trio. The man then spoke up, "Here're your prizes. But you will only pick one each so be careful." The man said as he opened the briefcase which contained a Thunderstone, Leafstone, and Firestone.

"Hm." Martin wondered. "I think I'll take the Thunderstone." Martin said as he got the Thunderstone and put it in his backpack.

"I'll take the Firestone in case my Vulpix wants to evolve." Leah stated as she got the Firestone.

"I guess I'll take what's left, the Leafstone." Melford said as he took the Leafstone.

After that, the man spoke to them, "Thanks for participating kids. Be sure to battle your hardest when in a Pokemon Battle so you can improve your skills."

After they received their respective prizes, the trio went towards the Pokemon Center to heal their Pokemon and eat lunch.

After eating, Melford, Martin, and Leah, went to the Cerulean Gym. Melford was the one who opened the Gym's door.

"Who goes there?" Asked a female voice which came from inside the Cerulean Gym.

"Er. I'm Melford and these are my friends, Martin and Leah." Melford explained. "Me and Martin came here for a Pokemon Battle for the Cerulean Gym Badge."

"Ok. You may enter." Replied the female voice.

As they entered the Gym, Melford widened his eyes to see who the Gym Leader was.

"So, who's the first battler?" Asked the girl.

"Me." Melford said as he stepped into the battlefield. "I'm Melford from Pallet Town."

"Very well." Said the female Gym-Leader. "I'm the Cerulean City Gym Leader, I'm..."

* * *

Slight cliffy at the end. And hey guys, sorry if the update was late but I have a reason for it. I finished uploading my first oneshot. And it's a Pokeshipping too. Please check it out and review.

**_'P4L'_**


	7. The Second Badge

Author's Note: Chapter 7 is uploaded for you guys. Sorry it took so long.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Second Badge**

"I'm Melford from Pallet Town. I challenge you to a Gym Battle." Melford said as he got a Pokeball from his Pokebelt.

"I'm the Cerulean City Gym Leader, Daisy of the Cerulean Sisters." Said the blonde woman identified as Daisy.

_'Daisy huh? If Daisy's here, where's Misty?'_ Melford thought. _'Argh, now is not the time to think such trivial matters.'_ "Ok then, come on out Pidgeo--" Melford was cut off when Daisy squealed.

"Like hello sis." Daisy said as she greeted her two other sisters that came out from nowhere, Violet and Lily. "So like where are you going?"

"It's my turn to go to the salon, right?" Lily said with a smile.

"Hey like, can't I join?" Asked Violet who was the second eldest of the sisters.

"Yeah and me too." Daisy squealed while she was on the battlefield.

"Sorry sis. You like, have a battle going on." Lily said with a smirk to which her sisters groaned at. After that, Lily just left the Gym as she headed towards the salon.

"Grr. I hate it when she does that. Oh, how I want to go to the salon too." Daisy whimpered.

"Hurry up with the match already. I can't wait for my turn." Martin shouted in the stands.

"Like be quiet please." Daisy replied. "Wait I know. Hey Violet, do you wanna go to the salon too?" Daisy asked to which Violet nodded to. At this, Daisy smiled, "Hey Chibi," She said as she faced Melford, "Why don't we have a double battle? Me and Violet versus you and your impatient friend over there?"

"Huh? Why?" Melford asked confusingly. "And don't call me Chibi." Melford shouted to which Leah giggled at.

"So we could finish the match earlier and we can go to the salon. Besides, both of you want a Cascade Badge so why don't we just hit two birds with one stone?" Daisy said.

"Well it's okay for me if Martin agreed to. Hey Martin," Melford said as he shouted towards the direction of Martin, "You up for it?"

"Sure." Martin said as he leaped towards the battlefield and headed towards Melford's side.

"Cool, like thank you." Daisy said. "We'll use one Pokemon each making it a 2 on 2 match. The side who first loses both Pokemon loses the match okay?"

"Sure." Melford and Martin replied in unison.

"Okay then, come on out Dewgong." Daisy said as her Pokemon materialized. "And you too, Marill." Violet added. After that, Daisy got a remote out of nowhere and pushed a button. After a few seconds, the battlefield split up revealing a big swimming pool. "Since this is a Water-Type Gym, we use a swimming pool as the main battlefield. So please, like choose yours already."

"If you like water, I choose you Squirtle." Martin said as he his Squirtle materialized in the pool.

"Tch. As I expected, an Ice-Type. Well I guess I'll choose you, Pidgeotto." Melford said as his Pidgeotto came out of the Pokeball flapping its wings.

"Alright then, Dewgong use Ice Beam on that Pidgeotto." Daisy said as her Dewgong unleashed a blast of ice towards Pidgeotto. "Marill Water Gun that Squirtle." Violet added to which her Marill unleashed a stream of water towards Squirtle.

"Squirtle dodge it and use Tackle on that Marill." Squirtle complied and swam fast to avoid the Water Gun. It then swam straight forward and delivered a Tackle attack against Marill.

"Pidgeotto, dodge with Quick Attack then use Tackle." Pidgeotto flew quickly with Quick Attack to avoid the Ice Beam and it delivered a Tackle at the side of Dewgong.

"We're not done yet, Dewgong use Aqua Jet against that Squirtle." "Help Dewgong and use Double Edge against Squirtle." After those, Dewgong formed a tornado of water and charged towards Squirtle. Marill also swam faster and was headed towards Squirtle to deliver its attack.

Unfortunately for Squirtle, as it does not stand a chance against two Water-Types on its own, was directly hit by the combination of Dewgong and Marill. "Grr well don't just stand there. Use your Pidgeotto to help me out." Martin shouted angrily.

"Well if you want it that badly then I must inform you, my Pidgeotto can't swim." Melford retorted.

"Then are you just going to watch your teammate get crushed?" Martin asked angrily.

"This isn't good. Both Melford and Martin can't work together and both are already losing their cool." Leah muttered to herself.

"Fine. Then use Twister on the pool Pidgeotto." Pidgeotto complied and unleashed a tornado of wind. When the Twister made contact to the water, a whirlpool has been formed. Even though the whirlpool had hurt Dewgong and Marill, Squirtle was also caught up and it got more hurt than before.

"You idiot. You don't hurt a teammate just to attack the enemy." Martin shouted.

"What? You said I need to do something but now you're complaining?" Melford retorted.

At the sides, Leah can't take what was happening anymore. She then stood up and shouted, "You idiots, work together. If Pidgeotto can't attack underwater, then bring the enemy to the surface. If Squirtle can't handle two Pokemon, then give the other to your teammate."

Melford and Martin stared at her in shock and fright. "Okay so we need to bring them to the surface, but how?" Melford asked.

"I got it." Martin said. "Ready your Pidgeotto for an aerial attack. Squirtle use Tackle on Marill underneath." Squirtle complied and used Tackle once again on Marill. But from the position of the attack, and the impact from the Tackle, Marill was blasted out of the water leaving it unprotected.

"Nice strategy." Melford commented. "Pidgeotto use Quick Attack to hit Marill once more then use a Wing Attack to finish it off." Pidgeotto used Quick Attack to damage Marill twice and to let Marill be airborne for a few more seconds. After that, Pidgeotto readied its wings and charged straight towards Marill to finish it off. At this great combination and impact, Marill flew straight towards the wall and fainted.

"Oh no Marill." Violet said as she headed towards Marill to take care of it. "It's all yours sis."

"Dewgong, use Aqua Jet on Squirtle." Dewgong once again had a tornado of water surrounding it and charged towards Squirtle.

"Oh no. Squirtle is in no position to dodge." Martin said.

"Then we'll just have to use speed." Melford said with a smile. "Pidgeotto use Tailwind." Pidgeotto gave a quick shrill and it glowed white. Pidgeotto then channeled some energy towards Squirtle giving it more speed.

"Great move. Now Squirtle is faster." Martin said. "Squirtle dodge it and use Skull Bash to finish that Dewgong." Squirtle, with its newfound speed, quickly swam away to dodge the Aqua Jet and quickly tucked its head and delivered a massive blow to Dewgong who was off-guarded for the moment. After receiving a massive attack, Dewgong can't take the pain anymore and it fainted.

"Oh." Diasy muttered, "I guess we lost." She said as she recalled Dewgong to its Pokeball. Then she got two Cascade Badges and threw them towards the winning pair. Melford and Martin caught it well, they also expected Daisy and Violet to be sad about their loss but it was quite the opposite. "C'mon Violet. The battle's finished so let's go to the salon." Daisy squealed and shouted.

"Wha?" Melford and Martin muttered with a sweat-drop.

"Excuse me." Leah interfered. "But why do you want to go to the salon badly?"

"Oh like, don't you know? There's a big dance at 8 PM, duh. Almost everybody will go there." Violet replied.

"Oh I see." Leah muttered.

"Hey like, I have an idea. Why don't you join us? We'll treat you to the salon and even give you a free dress so you can attend the dance." Daisy said with a wink.

"Huh? But why?" Leah asked in confusion.

"Like, you remind us of our lil' sis. She also has this dorky boyfriend of his that always likes to, you know, battle. You kinda resemble her too. And since we're the Cerulean Sisters, I guarantee that your clothes, make-up, hair, and everything will like, be free of charge." Violet said.

"Yeah." Daisy added. "Besides, it's been a long time since we gave a make-over to other girls right?"

"But why?" Leah asked again. "I mean, you don't even know me? And we barely even know about this dance."

"Like, I said a while ago that you don't need to worry. Besides, it always make us, the Cerulean Sisters, happy to see young love bloom." Violet squealed.

"Wha? What do you mean young love?" Leah asked with a hint of blush.

"Oh come on. We're girls so we know. You like that cutie there, right? The one with the red shirt? The one with the Pidgeotto?" Violet said as she swooned at Leah.

"You're crazy." Leah said with a blush.

**At Melford...**

"What do you think they're talking about?" Martin asked as he stared at the three girls' weird antics.

"Who knows? All I care is that we've won our second badge. Two down and six to go." Melford said with a happy face. "Besides, maybe they're just talking about weird, idiotic, and dense guys."

**At Leah...**

"You guys are really crazy." Leah retorted. "Besides, we need to reach Vermillion City for their third badge."

"Then that's another reason why you should go to the dance." Daisy said.

"What do you mean?" Leah asked confusingly.

"The dance will be held at the S.S. Anne, you know. And interestingly, the S.S. Anne will like, directly go to Vermillion City then back again at Cerulean. So you see, if you do go, like, means that your group just hitched a free ride towards Vermillion City instead of walking." Daisy replied.

"Even though. They may not like parties, you know?" Leah replied.

"Only one way to know." Violet replied. Then she headed to where Melford and Martin were celebrating. "Hey do you kids want a free ride towards Vermillion City. You may earn your third badge there."

"Free ride? Cool, I'm in." Melford replied to which Martin nodded his head to.

After that, Violet went at Leah's side, "See? They quickly agreed."

But Leah took none of it, "You didn't even tell them about the dance!"

"Like, don't worry too much." Violet said. "Alright then, off to the salon." Violet then almost literally dragged Leah towards the salon leaving Daisy behind.

Daisy then went towards the two males, she decided to explain everything including the S.S. Anne and the dance. Surprisingly, the two seem to shrug it off. "We'll attend but that doesn't mean we'll dance right?" Melford said.

"Okay then, head to the mall and buy some formal clothes." Daisy said as she left Melford and Martin in her dust.

"Ha good for me." Martin sighed in relief.

"What do you mean?" Melford asked confusingly.

"I don't need to wear any formal clothes at all coz I won't join the dance. But of course I'll join the ship ride, it's just that I'll stay in the battle area section of the ship to have some training." Martin replied.

"Cool. Then me too." Melford said with enthusiasm.

"Nope you don't." Martin said as Melford looked at him confusingly. "Don't you get it? At least one of us must go with Leah to the dance. And that's not going to be me. First, I'm shorter than her and it would seem weird if we dance. Second, I'm too young to join any weird dances. Third, you two look good with each other."

Melford doesn't seem to get it though. After all, he didn't even dance formally at the real world. Sure he knows how to dance since his mother forced him to a dancing lesson when he was little and thus, he knows the steps by heart. But he never had the opportunity to show his dancing talents though, he didn't like going to formal parties and such. He would rather prefer being left alone in home playing games than join weird parties.

"Oh. I guess no training for me then. Ha but that's okay, I heard the Vermillion Gym is an Electric-Type gym. I'm pretty sure my Charmander and Dratini won't have as many problems than your Squirtle and Spearow." Melford said grinning.

"You may be right but I do have Nidoran." Martin retorted.

"And what if the Gym-Leader uses a two on two match and your Nidoran loses? Your Squirtle and Spearow will be zapped to oblivion." Melford replied.

"Fortunately, I use strategies and tactics to win a match unlike someone I know." Martin said as he rolled his eyes at Melford.

"What?! I use strategies too." Melford retorted.

"I can't see how speed and power alone can be called strategy. You can tell you used strategies when you combine power, defense, support, speed, and tactics at once. Yes I must admit, you do specialize in speed and power, in fact, I think your Pidgeotto is the fastest of its kind, but can they take a hit? Remember, my Squirtle was hit by a Double-Edge and an Aqua Jet and was unfortunately crushed by a Twister attack but it can still battle. Can your Pokemon handle that?" Martin retorted.

Melford then thought about it, "I guess not. Ha, but there's plenty of time until the Pokemon Kanto League starts, I'll train my Pokemon's overall stats by that time. Besides, I don't need to worry about defense when I can avoid it using speed."

"Yeah whatever. But before that, don't you think you should already buy a suit already?" Martin said.

"Oh yeah. But where?" Melford asked. "Even though, I still don't have any sense of fashion. Which makes me wonder, why do people who go to formal dances wear formal clothes?"

"Dunno. Anyway, check the mall. You're bound to find one there." Martin said. "Which reminds me, I need a new towel for polishing my Pokeballs. I guess I'll join your suit hunting."

**At the mall...**

"Hey Martin, what do you think about this?" Melford said as he showed Martin a polo shirt.

"Daisy said a 'suit' right?" Martin scowled.

"Polo. Suit. What's the difference?" Melford replied as he continued grumbling.

"Excuse me sir. Are you having a problem?" Asked a woman who's about in her mid-20s. She wears an ID which obviously makes her a saleslady.

Martin decided to butt in, "Well you see Miss, my friend here will attend the dance later and he doesn't know what to wear. You could say that he has no fashion sense at all."

"Yeah right." Melford said as he rolled his eyes. "You're the one who insisted I buy a suit but you also know nothing about fashion. We're just the same."

Martin decided to ignore him, "So Miss, can you please help my friend here? It would be a shame if he doesn't look presentable in front of his date."

"Yeah." Melford said completely oblivious. "What's a 'date' again?" He asked dumbly.

At this, Martin and the saleslady fell anime style. "Ehem. A date is something that happens when a gender of an opposite sex asks you to go out with them. Or so I heard." Martin replied.

_'These guys are absolutely weird.'_ The saleslady thought to herself. "Ehem. By the way, what dress color will your date wear?"

"I dunno. She didn't tell me." Melford said as he shrugged.

"Hm. I guess something universal." the saleslady said as she checked all of the suits that were hangered properly. After a minute, the saleslady pulled out a dark brown suit. "Here. I'm sure you'll look good in it. Now to find an undershirt." After another minute of searching, she pulled out a lavender colored long-sleeved undershirt which perfectly matched the suit. The saleslady also got a maroon-red colored tie to top it all of.

After Melford changed into the clothes the saleslady gave him, he exited the changing room and asked their opinions.

"Well well. You look like a human-being now." Martin said with a smirk to which Melford rolled his eyes at.

"Hm. Something's missing though." The saleslady said as she placed her finger at her chin. "Aha. I know. You need a pair of shoes that can match your suit." As quick as a bullet train, the saleslady got a pair of very dark brown shoes that fit perfectly.

After Melford had worn the shoes, he looked at his self on a big mirror. _'I do look different. I wish the dance wouldn't take long. I'm not used to this kind of shirts and stuff.'_ He thought to himself.

"Well what are you waiting for Melford? Pay for it so I can go to the Pokemon Center and eat." Martin said annoyingly.

"Okay okay. Chill out." Melford replied irritatingly.

"Wait, did you say Melford? As in Melford Anderson?" The saleslady asked in shock.

"Uh yeah." Melford nodded dumbly.

"Gosh, so you're the guy huh? The Cerulean Sisters told me that you'll come by so I waited for you. And also, you don't have to pay for anything you have bought, the Cerulean Sisters will take care of it." The saleslady said in joy.

"Wow. At least something good happened." Martin said.

"Oh and I take it your date is Leah?" The saleslady said. "She was accompanied by the Cerulean Sisters a while ago as they all picked out dresses to wear. I must say though, you have a really beautiful girlfriend. You two really fit each other, a beautiful lady and a handsome gentleman."

"Gee. Leah isn't my girlfriend. Well she is a girl, and a friend, but not a girlfriend." Melford said as he scratched the back of his head not really getting what's going on.

"Really? Nevertheless, hope you enjoy the dance later." The saleslady said as she watched the two guys head over the cashier to get some plastics. "Anyway, good luck later. Hope you can handle the pressure."

Melford then waved at the saleslady, "Thanks for helping me choose a suit, Miss. I appreciate it." Melford said as the saleslady waved in reply.

The saleslady then sighed heavily, "Why can't I find a man like that kid. If I was that kid's age, I might even consider having a date with him. I see now why the Cerulean Sisters helped these kids, it would be a shame if Melford and Leah don't get together. It looks like they were made for each other. Perfect or not, I wish they will be in a very good shape later. They have some steep competition."

**At the Pokemon Center approximately 7 PM**

"Man. Just where am I gonna find Leah?" Melford asked to no one in particular as he stood by the corridor of the Pokemon Center. He had already worn his suit. He even had a watch at his right hand which he always looked at. "It's gonna be 7 soon. We might miss the free ride towards Vermillion."

"Hey Melford." Martin greeted as he saw Melford standing at the lobby. "Daisy called a while ago. She said we go ahead and they'll make it soon. She also said that we're already identified by the security so we would have no problem. And guess what, Daisy even said we can eat all we want at the ship."

"Cool. But I don't know if I can eat with this thing I'm wearing. But anyway, let's head out already. The faster we arrive there the better." Melford said.

Martin can't help but notice that a lot of girls were looking at Melford. Ranging from young teenage girls up to the fine and graceful women. He even heard some girls gossiping about 'That guy wearing a suit is cute isn't he?' and others like 'If I was his age I'd ask him to a date'. Martin can't help but snicker at Melford's obliviousness to his surroundings.

"If you say so, than let's head to S.S. Anne." Martin said.

As they reached the humongous ship, they got inside quickly since they were V.I.P.'s courtesy of the Cerulean Sisters.

"Don't you think it's weird?" Martin asked. "I mean, we got first class treatment and we even barely know the Cerulean Sisters. Don't you think something's up? And also what the saleslady said about handling the pressure. I think something's up."

"I really don't care as long as we eat for free." Melford replied obviously not paying any attention. At this, Martin just sighed.

After that, the two were finally inside the ship. "This ship is really big." Martin said in awe. And true to his words, it really is. The ship is composed of two floors. the first floor has the shops, restaurants, and some sort of a museum. The battle arena of the ship is located at the farthest side of the first floor. There is even a big buffet table at the center of the first floor. The second floor is composed of a very large hall, and this is the hall where the dance will take place. At the far side of the second floor lies the cabins and stuffs.

"Hey let's eat." Melford said as he hurried towards the buffet. But before he even reached the buffet table, a waiter got his attention. "Sir, are you perhaps going to the dance?"

"Yup." Melford replied. At this, the waiter dragged him towards the second floor. "This is the hall wherein the dance will take place. We reccomend that as soon as you get inside the ship, please directly head to the hall." The waiter explained then left soon.

"Well since I'm already here, might as well enter." Melford said as he entered the hall. What he saw had awed him. The hall was very spacious. There was a buffet table near one of the corners and there was a stage near the center. The stage is the place where the host will give announces and other stuffs, the DJ was already there fixing some stereos and CDs. The hall was also very well decorated, there were chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and various beautiful paintings hanged on the wall.

As he continued to admire the ship's beauty, he heard a voice calling to him. When he turned around, he saw it was Leah. But this time it's different, Leah was wearing an emerald green gown that went down to her ankles. An apple green sash also enveloped her waist. She also wore a simple, yet fancy silver high-heeled shoes. A set of brand new earrings also shone from her ears. She also only has a hint of make-up but not too many to cover her natural beauty.

"You look beautiful in that dress." Melford said oblivious to the fact that girls love extremely good compliments.

"You look handsome in your get up too." Leah said while Melford just shrugged it off.

What followed was an extremely awkward silence, for Leah that is. Melford didn't really care about the silence, what he cares more is when they get to eat.

A few moments passed and the hall went dim, then a spotlight was focused on a man wearing a black tuxedo about in his 20s. "Hello there ladies and gentlemen. I'm Dominic, the host for this dance. Well then, let me just give the stage to the sponsor of this wonderful party. Mr. Wilkins, please go on stage." He said as the man known as Mr. Wilkins went up the stage.

Dominic, the host, then spoke up. "As we all know, the Cerulean Sisters and Magenta Sisters have brought with them a young couple. I'm sure all of you know why, but for those who don't, I shall explain. A month ago, Mr. Wilkins adviced all high-profiled families of Cerulean to have a young couple to represent them in this year's event. After a lot of scanning, the final competitors will be the Magenta Sisters and the Cerulean Sisters. The price for this competition will be a whole year's set of make-ups so it's no wonder that the Magenta and Cerulean sisters joined."

Mr. Wikins then grabbed the mic from Dominic. He is a fairly aged man about in his 50s. One look at him will tell you that he is undoubtely, a member of a very very very high-profiled family. "Ok then, let's call the representatives of the Magenta Sisters, Kent and Sarah."

Applauses were heard from the audiences and screams were heard from the Magenta Sisters who were standing near the stage. A young couple then went into stage. From their looks, they were about the same age as Melford and Leah. Kent was wearing a cream-colored tuxedo while Sarah was wearing a pink flashy gown.

"It seems that Kent Jones and Sarah Trish had grabbed the attention of the audiences. Let's see if the couple representing the Cerulean Sisters can live up to the audiences' expectations. "Let us call on the couple representing the Cerulean Sisters,"

"Gee. How can a dance be some sort of a contest?" Melford asked to no one in particular.

"I don't know. Let's just see the second couple and decide who's better." Leah replied.

"Please go on stage for the Cerulean Sisters, Melford Anderson and Leah Hartley."

"Wha?!" Melford and Leah asked in shock as a spotlight had been focused on the both of them. Without having any choice, both went to the stage where the Cerulean Sisters were.

Claps, cheers, and applauses were heard from the audienced. But this time, it was much louder than before. Dominic then spoke up, "It seems that Melford and Leah really hooked up the crowd. As usual, the Cerulean Sisters once again got a magnificent couple for their side."

Melford and Leah weren't listening to this though. Silently, Leah elbowed Daisy who was beside her. "What does this mean, Daisy?"

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you. But we really were in a pinch. We tried asking several couples but none of them agreed because they think that they're no match for Kent and Sarah. But when I saw the both of you, I instantly knew that you guys will be perfect." Daisy explained.

Leah decided to ask again seeing that Melford was just smiling sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head, "How come you knew we were going by your Gym?"

Violet then replied, "You see, like Daisy said, we tried asking several couples even from Pewter City. Then yesterday, Flint told us that a cute couple with a kid went to his Gym and said that they were headed towards the Cerulean Gym. So we decided to take a gamble and that's how you winded up here."

Leah just sighed at this, "I knew something was up when you treated us like VIPs. Since we're here, might as well go on with it. It's not like we need to perform to please the audience, right?"

Leah was expecting a reply but the Cerulean Sisters just smiled at her nervously.

"You mean me and Melford are gonna perform?" Leah asked angrily.

"Ahehe." Daisy laughed nervously. "Like you said, since you're here, might as well make the most of it, right?"

"Oh why did we get dragged onto this?" Leah groaned with a very heavy sigh.

"Ok young couples." Dominic started. "You guys are representing your own sides. So if you want to win, do it for them. Anyway, you guys only have ONE shot at performing and that's it. Just one song and the audience will decide who wins and who loses. Now that that's done, may we call on Kent and Sarah to sing 'Start of Something New' by HSM."

The lights dimmed and a spotlight was focused to Kent and Sarah. But Leah doesn't seem to concentrate on the happenings, "Why didn't you tell us that we were gonna sing?"

Daisy then replied, "Don't worry. I heard your voice while we got our hair done and it was magnificent. You got this in the bag." She said with a wink.

"And how about Melford?" Leah asked.

"Uh oh." Was the only thing that the Cerulean Sisters muttered.

Suddenly, Dominic went to Melford and Leah. "Hey kids, what will you sing?"

Melford gave out a 'huh?' look to him so Leah took over. "So Melford, what can you sing?"

Melford just replied with a, "I don't know." As he shrugged.

Leah now was having trouble holding back her temper, "What do you mean you don't know? Grr well one, you should know. Two, we got dragged into this so let's make the most of it. Three, just pick one song. And four, let's hope for the best."

"Ok then." Dominic interrupted. "One, Two, Three, Four it is. Song 1234 is 'At The Beginning' so get ready. They'll be finished in a minute." He said as he exited and went towards the DJ.

"'At The Beginning' huh?" Melford said. "I know that song. I heard it from Anastasia, good thing I still know the lyrics."

"Great." Leah said as she cheered up. "Fortunately, I know the song too."

"That song by Kent and Sarah was great. Can the next couple be on on par with them, or better yet, can they be better than the first? Only one way to find out, take the stage, Melford and Leah." Dominic said as a spotlight focused on Melford and Leah.

Melford and Leah went to the center of the stage as the spotlight grew brighter and the hall dimmed. The song was already starting. Leah was nervous but Melford wasn't, what he cares more is to finish then head to the buffet.

Song: At the Beginning

_We were strangers  
Starting out on a journey  
Never dreaming  
What we'd have to go through  
Now here we are_

_'I never knew Leah could sing well. I guess I should sing well too unless I want to be clobbered by Leah and the Cerulean Sisters.'_ Melford thought.

_No one told me I was going to find you  
Unexpected, what you did to my heart  
When I lost hope, you were there to remind me  
This is the start_

_'Melford sings divinely. I just hope our voices blend in at this chorus.' _Leah thought.

_And life is a road and I wanna keep going  
Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing  
Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey  
I'll be there when the world stops turning  
I'll be there when the storm is through  
In the end, I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you_

At the chorus, the audience clapped heartily and the Cerulean Sisters already knew that this is in the bag.

At the short instrumental, Melford smiled at Leah knowing that they got the audiences' ears. Leah also smiled knowing that after all, it turned out for the better.

_We were strangers on a crazy adventure_

_Never dreaming how our dreams would come true_

_Now here we stand, unafraid of the future  
At the beginning with you_

Before the start of the chorus, the Cerulean Sisters were practically celebrating in their thoughts. At this, the Cerulean Sisters told the DJ to maximize the volume of the speakers and connect it to the whole ship's speakers. At this, all of the people who were inside the ship heard Melford and Leah's singing. At first, they wondered if Richard Marx and Donna Lewis were here. But alas, they were informed that a party was just going on.

The song didn't escape Martin's ears though, he immediately recognized the voices. He knew that the voices belonged to Melford and Leah. At this, Melford just smiled sheepishly as he continued his battling against the opposing trainer.

_And life is a road and I wanna keep going  
Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing  
Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey  
I'll be there when the world stops turning  
I'll be there when the storm is through  
In the end, I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you_

As the second chorus of the song ended. Another round of claps and cheers were heard from the audience. Even high-profiled business-men and women were tapping their feet at the beat. Some girls who were also listening to the song were cheering loudly for Melford and other teenage boys were also cheering for Leah.

_Knew there was somebody somewhere  
Like a light in the dark  
Now I know that dreams will live on  
I've been waiting so long  
Nothing's gonna tear us apart_

At the ship's battle area, Martin's battle was already finished and he was listening to their song. "Darn it. I knew something was gonna happen. But why? Why did it happen now of all times? Now I didn't get to see their first step to romance." Martin shouted as he shedded massive amounts of anime tears as nearby people stared at him.

_And life is a road and I wanna keep going  
Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing  
Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey  
I'll be there when the world stops turning  
I'll be there when the storm is through  
In the end, I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you_

There was another instrumental and the audiences' once again clapped and applaused. The Cerulean Sisters were already giving high-fives to each other but the Magenta Sisters were already ripping their hair out of anger. Kent and Sarah also smiled knowing that they've lost against a perfect couple. Melford and Leah once again stared into each others eyes with a smile plastered on their faces.

_Life is a road and I wanna keep going  
Love is a river, I wanna keep going on  
Starting out on a journey  
Life is a road and I wanna keep going  
Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing  
In the end, I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you_

Now that the song was officially finished, there were claps again but this time, it was joined by yells and screams. Young girls wanted to have Melford's number and young boys wanted Leah's autograph. The Cerulean Sisters hugged both Melford and Leah and Kent and Sarah congratulated them with a friendly handshake. The Magenta Sisters walked out and went to who-knows-where.

After the audiences' settled down, Dominic got into the mic and declared, "Well now we know. The representatives of the Cerulean Sisters got the prize. And hey Cerulean Sisters, you got the perfect couple this year, huh?"

The Cerulean Sisters went up the stage and Mr. Wilkins gave them a cheque of some sort. Dominic once again spoke up, "It would be unfair if Melford and Leah didn't have some sort of a prize so here you go." Domininc said as he handed down two wrapped boxes to Melford and Leah.

"Now that the competition is over, we shall start the dance." Mr. Wilkins declared.

"Man that singing made me hungry." Melford said as he headed towards the buffet with Leah beside him.

"Hey Melford," Leah called. "I didn't know you could sing so well."

"Oh that. Maybe I got lucky. Anyway, you sang good Leah. You could even be a pro at singing if you tried. You have a really great voice." Melford complimented.

"Thanks." Leah said with a smile. "So this is what the Cerulean Sisters planned all along, huh?"

"Yeah. Nevertheless, we got a free ride towards Vermillion City. I overheard we'll arrive tomorrow at 5 PM." Melford said as his stomach grumbled. "Enough of that, I'm too hungry." He said embarrased as he dashed towards the buffet and fortunately for him, no one was there to disturb him.

"Battle, sleep, and eat. Geez, don't male trainers do anything today besides that?" Leah said with a sigh. "Since I don't want to dance, might as well eat." She then got a plate but just got some salad and vegetables and went to the table where Melford was eating.

"Can those small portions fill your stomach up?" Melford asked as he looked at Leah's plate.

"Fortunately for me, I just need to fill my stomach, not overfeed it." Leah said as she looked at Melford's plate full of various meat, chicken, and vegetables. "Can you really eat that all up?"

"Yeah. And I'll go back and replenish my plate once I'm finished." Melford said as he bit a piece of meat.

At this, Leah just rolled her eyes. Soon enough the Cerulean Sisters arrived to congratulate them.

"Hey like, that was the best performance I've seen in my whole life." Lily squealed.

"Yeah. You two really have some like, natural talent in singing." Violet agreed.

"You showed the Magenta Sisters a thing or two." Daisy said without her usual 'like'.

"You know what would be better? If you just informed us earlier, that's what's better." Leah said as she rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on. Are you still like, mad about that. Just be happy that you have given the audience a nice performance." Violet said.

"Yeah. Just make the most of it." Melford said as he practically inhaled the portions in his plate.

"See? Anyway, as sorry for what we did, we'll take you tomorrow for some shopping." Daisy reccomended.

As the word shopping reached Leah's ears, she instantly agreed.

"He eats much huh?" Lily said as she looked at Melford eating to which Leah agreed to.

"That means you need to like, improve you cooking skills more Leah. You'll need it when you two get married." Violet said.

"For your information I know how to cook and I don't wanna get married yet." Leah shouted angrily. "Right, Melford?" She said as she turned her head towards Melford but unfortunately, he wasn't there. Leah looked around and saw that he was back at the buffet table.

"Like, he ate that much and still wants seconds?" Violet asked shockingly.

"Actually," Leah started. "That's not his seconds, it's his fifths."

"What a big appetite." Daisy said with a sweatdrop.

"I really don't care that much." Leah said as she closed her eyes and sat down.

"Oh but I'm sure you're gonna like that." Daisy said sarcastically as she pointed towards Melford. Leah didn't quite get it so she looked at Melford, or more precisely, the people with Melford. Her eyes widened as she stared at two girls about 17-19 years of age asking Melford's number. At this, Leah flared up and got out of her seat and stomped her way towards Melford. The Cerulean Sisters hugged each other in fright of Leah's wrath.

"Hey there cutie. You're Melford right?" Asked one of the girls talking to Melford.

"Uh yeah." Melford replied dumbly.

"You're so cute. And you have a really nice voice" The other girl squealed. "Can we have your number?"

"Why?" Melford asked not getting the situation.

"So we can contact each other daily, silly." The elder girl replied.

"Oh ok." Melford agreed as he reached out for his Pokedex. (I don't know if a Pokedex has calling features but let's just pretend it has, since its a new model, okay?)

"Hold it there Melford." Leah yelled angrily.

"Oh hello Leah." Melford greeted as Leah went beside him.

At this, the two girls just stared at her, "Um Melford. Is she your girlfriend?"

Before Melford could even reply, Leah butted in, "And why do you ask?" She asked as her eyes flashed dangerously and a green scary and dangerous aura appeared surrounding her.

"Ahehe. Sorry about that." The elder girl replied as they dashed away from them.

"What did they ask?" Leah asked as she looked at Melford who began to put food portions in his plate.

"Nothing much, just my Pokedex Number. I dunno why though." Melford replied as he finished getting enough food and went back to their table.

Fortunately for Leah, the Cerulean Sisters were gone. She looked around and saw that they were dancing with other guys. "Asking your number huh. Did you give it to them?"

"Nope." melford said as he drank some soda.

"Whew." Leah sighed.

"What's with the sigh?" Melford asked as he looked at Leah.

"Oh nothing. Anyway, the Cerulean Sisters informed me that they already gave us our cabin and Martin already has the key. Since it's already 10 PM, I guess Martin's there already." Leah said.

"Oh really." Melford said as he ate the last piece of meat on his plate. "Why don't we sleep too? We got a day full of excitement tomorrow. Besides, I feel uncomfortable with these clothes." Melford said as he stretched his arm.

"Sure. I also can't wait about tomorrow's shopping." Leah squealed.

After that, both of them exited the hall and went to their cabin. Luckily, Martin was awake and reading a book about Pokemon Strategies. "Hey guys, you two sang so good. I can't believe it. You got the attention of all the people here in the ship." Martin said.

"What do you mean?" Leah asked.

"You know, the one where you sang the song, 'At The Beginning'. The people really got hooked up. Some even thought that there were celebrity singers on board." Martin replied.

"I thought only the people in the hall heard that." Melford said with a shrug.

"Ugh. I guess I know, the Cerulean Sisters were at it again." Leah said as she shook her head.

"Uh ok. Since we have nothig else to do, let's just have a good night's sleep." Melford recommended.

At that, the three teenagers changed into their night clothes and went at their respective beds and slept.

* * *

Yosha. Tune in again for the next chappie guys. This is 'P4L' at your service.


	8. Battle Between Friends

Author's Note: Here's Chapter 8 for you guys.

--

**Chapter 8: Battle Between Friends**

"Hey Melford, wake up already." A female voice said as she shook Melford trying to wake him up. At this action, Melford opened his eyes, sat up, and rubbed his eyes. _'Who woke me up?'_ Melford thought. Melford then stared at the female in front of him. Only to see that it was Leah. "Hurry up already Melford. It's 7 AM and it's time for breakfast."

Melford then quickly got up and saw Martin and Leah already dressed up. "Alright alright. Geez. You know what? I can't help thinking that you're my sister or something the way you treat me."

"Yeah whatever." Leah replied. "It's just that you constantly need supervising since you're still a kid."

At this, Melford choked on the water he was drinking and breathed heavily. "But I'm three months older than you."

"Oh I wasn't speaking literally." Leah said as Melford wondered. "It's just that you're pretty immature for a guy your age.."

"What do you mean 'immature'?" Melford asked with a glare as Martin snickered.

"It meant exactly what I meant. Even though you're the eldest, you have an attitude of an 8 year old." Leah said. "And besides, it's a lot of fun to tease someone early in the morning."

"Then why don't you just tease Martin. After all, he's younger than both of us." Melford suggested to which Martin cringed to.

"It's a lot more fun to tease you than Martin." Leah said with a smile.

Melford didn't seem to like it though, _'I'm immature?' _He thought. Melford then again started to ponder on things.

"Ok then, hurry up and take a bath already. We'll meet you at the food center, okay?"

"Yeah sure." Melford said as he closed the bathroom door.

As Martin and Leah were about to exit the cabin, Leah decided to give one last bit of advice. "And hurry up."

--

**After 15 minutes...**

"Oh there they are." Melford said as he browsed towards the food section. As he went towards his friends, he quickly ordered three sets of pancakes and headed towards the table where Martin and Leah were eating.

"That's...an awful lot." Martin said as he looked at Melford gobbling his pancakes.

"Well if I don't eat this much I may faint from exhaustion." Melford said dramatically.

"Yeah right. You just woke up and you're thinking of fainting. Get real." Leah said with a smirk. Melford rolled his eyes but just decided to go on with it.

"So what time will you start shopping?" Martin asked to Leah.

"As soon as the Cerulean Sisters get here." Leah said as she spotted the Cerulean Sisters nearing them. "Well it looks like they're here. I better go. See ya later guys." Leah said as she dashed towards the Cerulean Sisters.

"Yeah yeah." Melford muttered.

"So how bout you? What will you do? Do you plan on gobbling foods all day?" Martin asked with a smirk.

At this, Melford glared at Martin dangerously. "Ahehe, sorry. No need to get so angry." Martin said with a sweatdrop. "Back to the discussion, what will you do after you eat?"

"I guess I'll train at the arena." Melford replied.

"Oh okay. I'll join you then. But be warned, yesterday a boy came out from nowhere and defeated all of the trainers there. I heard you'll be able to battle that boy by beating 10 trainers in a row without healing." Martin said with a smirk.

"Woah, 10 trainers without healing?" Melford asked in shock.

"Yeah that's the test. That boy too defeated 10 trainers a row yesterday and proceeded to beat the defending champion. Think you're good enough to handle 10 trainers plus the defending champion?" Martin taunted.

"Yeah. Oh I guess you're telling me this to shake me up huh? Probably because you're too scared to battle 10 trainers huh?" Melford taunted.

"Hehe. We'll see." Martin said as he flashbacked.

**FLASHBACK**

"That kid is so good. He defeated all of the trainers and the defending champion with just three Pokemon." Said a man to his friend.

"Yeah. His skills are so great that he totally obliterated them. I can't believe a kid can get this good. Do you think someone can match up with that kid?" Replied another man.

"I dunno. By the way, what's the name of that kid?" Asked the man.

"I heard his name was, Martin Silver."

**END OF FLASHBACK**

At the arena...

"Look at that. That black-haired kid already defeated his fourth opponent with only a Pidgeotto." Said a spectator.

"Hey do you think he can match up with the boy from yesterday?" Asked another.

"Great battle Pidgeotto. Take a rest for a while and I'll use the others. We're gonna need your flying prowess later on." Melford said as he recalled Pidgeotto back to its Pokeball.

For the next six opponents, Melford only used Dratini. He didn't even need to send out his Charmander for battling.

"Sir please take your Pokemon here and heal them." Said the referee.

"Huh? But I thought I can't heal my Pokemon." Melford asked.

"Well you've already defeated 10 trainers in a row and you're going to face the defending champion soon. It's a requirement seeing that it would be unfair not to battle the defending champion with full strength." The referee said.

After 10 minutes of healing, Melford once again stepped into the battlefield.

"And now, for the final battle." The announcer said. "We have here Melford who battled his way up to the top. But does he have the strength to beat the defending champion? Only one way to find out. I present to you, the defending champion, Martin Silver."

"Martin?" Melford asked. And true to the announcer's words, it was indeed Martin. "Oh, so you're 'The Boy' huh?"

"Yeah." Martin replied from the other side of the battlefield. "I spent my time here yesterday battling and it seems you'll be my opponent. Better get ready, and no holding back."

"I don't plan to." Melford replied as he went into battle stance.

"This will be a three-on-three match. No time limit. Begin!" Shouted the referee.

"My first Pokemon will be...Nidoran, come on out." Martin said as his Nidoran materialized.

"Then I'll choose...Charmander come on out." Melford said as his Charmander flamed its tail ready for battle.

"Hey hey. All out from the start? That's the way." Martin said. "Nevertheless, Nidoran, use Tackle." Martin ordered as his Nidoran quickly dashed towards Nidoran.

"Meet it head-on with Skull Bash." Melford said as his Charmander readied its attack and charged towards Nidoran. When both Charmander and Nidoran clashed, clouds of dust erupted and soon, both Pokemon were standing 8 foot apart awaiting the next command.

"Poison Sting, Nidoran." And quickly, Nidoran unleashed countless poison needles to attack Charmander.

"Burn it with Ember, Charmander." Melford ordered as Charmander's Ember attack incinerated the Poison Sting.

"Looking good Melford. But anyway, Nidoran charge towards Charmander and use Fury Attack." Nidoran then quickly ran towards Charmander. "I know you specialize in speed Melford. But you see, your Charmander isn't as fast as your Pidgey and Dratini. And you don't have a move to counter my Nidoran's Fury Attack."

"You may be right about that Martin." Melford replied. "But you know, I think I have just the move to prevent your Nidoran to come any closer. Use Flamethrower on that Nidoran." As quick as Melford ordered, Charmander opened its mouth and unleashed a stream of fire that hit Nidoran perfectly. With the range and power of the Flamethrower, Nidoran can't help but faint.

"Wow. I didn't know your Charmander can use Flamethrower." Martin said as he withdrew Nidoran back to its Pokeball.

"It's a little surprise for you." Melford said with a smirk. "Hehe, now I can evaporate your Squirtle's Water Gun."

"That may be true, but unfortunately for you..." Martin said as he threw a Pokeball. Out came a turtle Pokemon but it was different, this time the turtle had curly ears and a fluffy tail. It also grew in size. "You see, my Squirtle evolved into a Wartortle yesterday."

"Oh no." Were the only words Melford was able to muster. "Charmander use Smokescreen." Charmander then quickly unleashed black smokes to prohibit vision. "Now use Skull Bash on Wartortle." Charmander then quickly saw Wartortle struggling to breathe and it delivered a massive Skull Bash towards it. From the strength of the impact, the smoke dispersed.

Melford then looked at Wartortle who wasn't hurt badly. Then he looked at Charmander who seems to be struggling from pain. "Charmander what happened?"

Martin then decided to answer his question for him, "You see. You ordered Charmander to Skull Bash my Wartortle. But unfortunately for you, my Wartortle has a very excellent defense causing the impact to rebound towards your Charmander."

"I forgot. Wartortle are known for their defense." Melford muttered.

"Finish Charmander off with a Water Gun." Wartortle then inhaled for a bit and unleashed cold ice water from its mouth which hit Charmander directly causing it to faint.

"Charmander return. Nice battle." Melford said as he got another Pokeball. "Go, Dratini."

"Dratini, huh?" Martin pondered. "Okay then, Wartortle, try another Water Gun." Martin ordered as Wartortle inhaled once more.

"Not this time. Dratini is much faster than your Wartortle. Dratini, use Agility to dodge and unleash a Dragon Breath." Dratini quickly gave a shrill and disappeared from sight. As quick as it can be, Dratini reappeared behind Wartortle and gave a huge green stream of energy which hit Wartortle on the spot.

Martin saw that the situation wasn't looking too good so he ordered his Wartortle to, "Wartortle, use Withdraw." Wartortle quickly obeyed and hid into his shell thus avoiding the damage from the Dragon Breath, though he was still hurt nonetheless.

"Tch." Melford grunted as he tried to devise a plan to counter Martin's defensive strategies. "I got it. Dratini, Tackle the right side of Wartortle and use Extremespeed to attack the left side."

"Ha. I told you, didn't I? My Wartortle will just absorb those attacks like nothing." Martin snickered.

Melford then decided to stay calm and waited whether his plan will work or not. After that, Dratini jumped towards the right side of Wartortle to tackle it causing Wartortle to skid. Dratini then disappeared once more and tackled the left side of Wartortle causing it to spin rapidly.

"What?" Martin shouted as he looked at the scene before him. "I see. You're trying to make my Wartortle dizzy so it would come out of his shell. The Tackle and Extremespeed weren't used to damage but to create an opening from the attack."

Melford then replied with a smirk and nodded. "That's right. Sooner or later your Wartortle won't be able to take the dizziness and he'll come out of his shell creating the perfect opportunity to attack."

But Martin's expression changed, he was worried before but now he's smirking. "I won't let that happen. Wartortle, come on out of your shell and use Water Gun on the ground."

"Dragon Breath that Wartortle as soon as his body comes into view." Melford ordered to which Dratini nodded its head to.

And as soon as the tip of Wartortle's fingers (Let's just make it fingers ok? Cause I really don't know what those are) appeared, Dratini unleashed a Dragon Breath. Wartortle quickly saw this and quickly shot a massive amount of water against the ground causing him to propel upwards fast. Unfortunately for Dratini, the Dragon Breath missed by just a few millimeters.

"Nice movement there Wartortle. Now let's finish this with an all-out Bubblebeam." Martin ordered.

"We won't end this yet. Use an all-out Dragon Breath, Dratini." Melford commanded as he silently hoped that a Dragon Breath could stop Wartortle's offense.

As the two attacks collided with each other, both Dratini and Wartortle were knocked into their respective sides as clouds of dust erupted. It took a couple of seconds before the dust dispersed completely. As both Pokemon came into view, the whole crowd saw that the standing Pokemon was no other than...Wartortle.

"No way. Even my Dratini lost to Wartortle." Melford said in shock.

"Great work Wartortle." Martin shouted in glee.

Melford then returned his Dratini back to its Pokeball. "That was a great battle Dratini. I'm proud of you." He said as he placed Dratini's Pokeball to his belt.

"I'm down now to my last Pokemon. I'm counting on you. Come on out, Pidgeotto." Melford said as his bird Pokemon came unto view. "Pidgeotto, use Gust to damage Wartortle."

'This is bad.' Martin thought. 'That last battle drained my Wartortle's strength and stamina and I'm sure, Wartortle is already at his limit. But I still gotta try.' "Wartortle, another Water Gun." Martin said as Wartortle tried to summon every bit of its strength.

"Pidgeotto, cancel the Gust and dive in for a Quick Attack." Melford said once more.

"Oh no. That Gust was just a bluff to fool me. Quickly Wartortle, try to aim for Pidgeotto fast." Wartortle tried to but Pidgeotto was too fast to hit. And since Wartortle was already at its limit, he was unable to dodge thus receiving the blow head on causing him to faint.

"Great battle Wartortle. I know you tried your best. Let's just leave this battle to Spearow." Martin said as his Spearow materialized.

"In the end, it's a battle between our fastest Pokemon huh? An airborne battle." Melford said.

"Yeah." Martin agreed. "Well no use in waiting. Let's get this show on the road."

"Pidgeotto, make the first move with Quick Attack." With a quick shrill, Pidgeotto flapped its wings fast and dashed towards Spearow.

"Spearow, use Agility to dodge then use Peck." Martin ordered. Quickly, Spearow dodged the attack with its small size and then delivered a Peck attack on Pidgeotto's left wing.

"Tsk. Pidgeotto clip Spearow unto you then you use Featherdance." With Spearow's beak clasped onto Pidgeotto's wing, it was unable to dodge. Although Spearow wasn't fazed with the attack, its Attack has been greatly reduced.

"Oh no. Fine, Spearow let's finish this match quick. Use your Drill Peck." Martin ordered as Spearow positioned itself.

"What? Drill Peck? That's a powerful move. And worse, with Spearow's speed, I may not be able to dodge. With leaves me with one choice. Pidgeotto, use Mirror Move." With that, Pidgeotto's eyes glowed brown as it copied Spearow's every move.

"I didn't know your Pidgeotto can use Mirror Move. Now with this airborne crash, we'll see who triumphs." Martin said.

"I know. Pidgeotto attack." Melford shouted.

"Spearow, go." Martin ordered.

As the two flying Pokemon collided with each other, dirt and dust began to block their view. But the two trainers certainly heard their Pokemon crash onto the ground.

As the dust settled, the winner of the match was decided. Spectators were gaping their mouths and both Melford and Martin were gritting their teeth in anticipation.

And then they saw, the Pokemon that was left standing, was...none.

"What the?" Melford shouted. "Come on Pidgeotto, try to get up."

"Oh no, Spearow." Martin worryingly yelled. "You can do it."

But alas, both flying can't get up even if they tried to. Their collision was far too powerful for them to handle.

With that, the referee raised both flags and exclaimed, "Both Pokemon are unable to battle. The match is considered as a draw. But since the challenger is unable to defeat the champion, and the champion was able to defend his title, the unanimous winner would be, Martin Silver from Pallet Town."

With that, claps and applauses were heard as the audience cheered to their heart's content. Some cheering for Martin's victory and some for Melford's great battle techniques.

The two trainers then recalled their Pokemon and met at the center of the battlefield to shake each other's hand.

"That was a great battle." Melford said with a smile.

"Hey, even though I was proclaimed as the winner we both know it's a tie." Martin replied.

"Well there's no use standing here eh. Let's just have a tour on this ship to enjoy the cruise." Melford recommended.

"Ok." Martin replied.

"Hold a sec..." A guy interrupted.

"Huh?!" Both Melford and Martin exclaimed. Both trainers then looked at the direction of the voice only to see 50 trainers or more.

"Hey. We saw your battle and we were so excited that we all want to challenge the both of you." Said the guy in front.

"Wha?" Melford muttered in shock. "You mean all of you?"

"Hey. A strong trainer doesn't need to choose his opponents." The guy taunted. "We'll give you ten minutes to heal your Pokemon and then, we'll battle you."

"Gulp."

**

* * *

**

After 1 hour...

"That was so like, very exciting." Daisy exclaimed as she carried tons of bags.

"Yeah. After all, it is like, the first time we shopped for about 3 weeks. How like, dreadful." Lily said as she walked beside Daisy.

"I'm tired. Why don't we have lunch?" Leah recommended.

"Sure. We'll go make reservations at **'Dine in Style'** so let's meet up there after about 45 minutes." Daisy said as she, together with her sisters, went the opposite way.

"Guess I'll find Melford and Martin. Hm. If I know those two, they should be at the battle arena." Leah said as she headed towards the mentioned place.

As she made haste towards the battle arena, she saw two boys almost literally crawling and gasping for breath. She went towards them only to see that it was the boys she was looking for.

"What in the world happened to the both of you?" Leah asked as she helped Martin get up.

"We just participated in a battle against a hundred Pokemon, literally." Martin said as he gasped for air.

"Hey Martin, let's go to the mall to heal our Pokemon." Melford said deliriously.

"Eh?" Leah asked with a sweatdrop. "Mall? Geez what happened to the both of you?"

"C'mon Melford. If we're going to heal our Pokemon, we should go to a Pokemon Center." Martin corrected.

"Whew. Good thing one guy still has his mind." Leah mentioned.

"That way," Martin continued. "Officer Jenny can take care of our Pokemon." Martin said as Leah fell anime style.

"I've had enough." Leah said as she bonked Melford and Martin to get their attention. "What in the world happened?"

At this, Melford and Martin got their senses back. "Hey Leah." Martin said with a smile.

"Don't just 'Hey Leah' me. So what happened?" Leah asked.

"Well you see. After my battle with Martin..." Melford started.

"Wait. You battled with Martin? So who won?" Leah asked.

"It was a tie though I was proclaimed the unanimous winner." Martin said.

"As I was saying. After our battle, dozens of trainer wanted to battle us so we had no choice but to accept." Melford said.

"That's when we battled 50 trainers in a row." Martin said with a sigh. "Our Pokemon weren't injured badly but they were pretty much exhausted."

"Well if they're just exhausted. They can take my Special PokeChows. I had some free time a while ago and I thought of making a PokeChow which can remove exhaustion. Luckily, I found the recipe I was looking for. Here." Leah said as she offered her specially made PokeChows.

"Ok then. Come on out everyone." Melford and Martin said simultaneously.

And then, six Pokemon appeared in front of Leah looking exhausted. Among them were Pidgeotto, Spearow, Wartortle, Charmeleon, Dragonair, and Nidorino.

"Whoa. Your Pokemon already evolved? I'm impressed." Leah said as she fed every Pokemon.

"After going through 50 battles, I'm not surprised they evolved." Melford mentioned.

"You guys are really taking this training seriously, aren't you? It's not gonna hurt to rest and relax for a while." Leah recommended.

"True. But time's a wasting. The third gym is just around the corner you know." Melford replied.

"Geez." Leah sighed as she finished feeding the Pokemon. "There all done. You can bring them back to their Pokeballs now. Oh and by the way, we'll meet up with the Cerulean Sisters for lunch."

'Lunch'. That single word caught both boys attention and quickly asked Leah where and when they would eat.

"Alright alright. I'll take the both of you there." Leah replied in a way that clearly shows that she's annoyed.

* * *

Whew. Sorry guys for the long wait. I'm currently studying for the upcoming exams so I'm kinda out of schedule.


End file.
